Luke Humphries paid tribute to Luke Littler in a touching victory speech after beating the 16-year-old at Alexandra Palace.
Humphries rattled off five sets in a row to come from behind and win the World Championship 7-4 on Wednesday night. The world No1 showed his class with some relentless scoring, which included 23 180s, to claim his first World Championship title.
But he was pushed hard by Littler, who showed no sign of nerves on the biggest stage and at one point missed a dart at double two for a 5-2 lead. He has secured a life-changing payday of £200,000 by finishing as runner-up and, having started the tournament outside the top 150, is now ranked inside the top 32.
Humphries dropped to his knees after throwing the winning dart, and after he had regained his composure and hugged his family, he summed up why Littler’s run to the final has gripped the nation.
“I’m not just saying this because it will please everyone. Luke has been an unbelievable talent – not just around the dart board. He has been fantastic with the media that has come about with him,” he told Sky Sports.
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“He took defeat so well just then. He said ‘Go and celebrate’. You will never see a more down-to-earth 16-year-old like him. He’s just something else. I really hope he’s in the Premier League. If he doesn’t want to play in it, then fair enough, but I think it would be a pleasure to play alongside him this year because he’s one of the best players in the world, there is no doubt about that.”
Luke Littler took home the runner-up trophy (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)Littler was magnanimous in defeat, admitting he only had one minor regret from the way he played at Ally Pally. "It's been unbelievable. The one negative was I lost too many legs on my throw so Luke could break me,” he said. "Fair play to Luke, he deserves it.”
Asked about moving up the rankings, he added: "I would rather be in the top 32 than play the development tour. I am happy, top 32 and runner-up on my debut, it's unbelievable. I got to the final and might not get to another for the next five or 20 years. I can say I'm runner-up but I just want to go and win it."
Littler beat Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell, Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross over the past few weeks to reach the final, but was eventually out-classed by Humphries, who has now won four of the past five darts majors. The 28-year-old Brit was unstoppable once he had found his stride and claimed the £500,000 cheque.
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