Luke Humphries denied Jermaine Wattimena a second Players Championship crown, defeating the Dutchman 8-4 to secure his second Players Championship title of the year in Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries, who recorded a staggering tournament average of 104.74, claimed his second Players Championship title of the year with a scintillating display of darts, further underlining his status as one of the sport\u2019s elite players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world number two snatched the \u00a315,000 top prize with an average just shy of 105 against Wattimena – his sixth ton-plus average of the day, a repeat feat of his success earlier in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Englishman trailed early in the contest, as Wattimena rattled off back-to-back legs to take a two-leg lead, before Humphries responded quickly with three legs on the spin in just 37 darts to lead the contest 3-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wattimena responded with a five-visit leg of his own, before Humphries once again won three legs on the spin to extend his lead against the Dutchman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries gave up another consolation leg to Wattimena, before rattling off back-to-back legs in 16 and 14 darts respectively to close out the contest and claim his second ProTour title of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was gutted about the Wessel Nijman game, I thought it was going to be one of those days,\u201d uttered Humphries, who produced his only average under a ton against the ProTour rankings leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI said to my family members throughout the day that it was just going to be one of those days.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen it clicks for me, it clicks for me! When it does, I think people see I\u2019m one of the best players in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It sets a standard for myself, I can do this a lot more, it’s just up to me to try and provide it a lot more than I do!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humphries, who recently secured his place in the Premier League Play-Offs at The O2 Arena next week after victory in Birmingham, reflected on his resurgent form as of late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “As soon as I walked into that game against Rhys [Griffin], I think I almost had four 11-dart legs on the spin, I knew the game was there today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I remember thinking throughout parts of the day that I felt like I just couldn’t miss, and that’s always a dangerous person when you feel like that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having kicked off his campaign with a brilliant 6-3 victory over Griffin, which saw Humphries average a staggering 112.18, the world number two produced three more ton-plus averages of 103, 109 and 105 against Yorick Hofkens, Justin Hood and Christian Kist respectively to reach the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former World Champion then defeated in-form Dutchman Nijman 6-3, before pinning his fifth ton-plus average of the day with a 7-2 victory over Danny Noppert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wattimena, meanwhile, kicked off his campaign with back-to-back victories over compatriots Alexander Merkx and Jeffrey Sparidaans, before beating Stephen Burton in a comfortable 6-2 win to progress to round four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 38-year-old, who finished runner-up at Players Championship Twelve earlier this year, then eased past Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2, before facing Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bunting raced into a 3-1 lead despite the Dutchman producing a 13-dart leg in the second, before Wattimena fired back with five consecutive legs \u2014 all won in five visits or fewer \u2014 to dispatch the former Masters winner 6-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Dutchman then produced his best average of the day in his semi-final clash against Kevin Doets, winning seven of the nine legs to defeat his compatriot 7-2 with an average of more than 111.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wattimena opened the contest with a brilliant 13-dart leg before trading legs with Doets to leave the scores tied at 2-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Machine Gun\u201d would not allow Doets another leg in the contest, reeling off five straight legs in just 66 darts to book his place in the event\u2019s showpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noppert and Doets were joined in the quarter-finals by Premier League star Bunting, who won three last-leg deciders against Cristo Reyes, Mensur Suljovi\u0107 and Damon Heta respectively to reach the quarter-final stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ProTour leader Nijman continued his good form in Leicester despite falling short to Humphries, while Robert Owen made a surprise surge into the quarter-finals, beating Maik Kuivenhoven, Ryan Meikle and Gabriel Clemens along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dirk van Duijvenbode, who fell short in the final of Players Championship Fifteen to compatriot Michael van Gerwen, failed to overcome Doets despite averaging nearly 100 against his fellow Dutchman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week\u2019s ProTour double-header concludes with Players Championship Eighteen on Tuesday, as 128 players compete for the \u00a315,000 top prize. Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final Luke Humphries denied Jermaine Wattimena a second Players Championship crown, defeating the Dutchman 8-4 to secure his second<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-12972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Last 16
<\/strong>Wessel Nijman 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Luke Humphries 6-2 Christian Kist
Rob Owen 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Danny Noppert 6-3 Ryan Searle
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Ross Smith
Kevin Doets 6-2 Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Damon Heta
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Luke Humphries 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Danny Noppert 6-5 Rob Owen
Kevin Doets 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Stephen Bunting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Luke Humphries 7-3 Danny Noppert
Jermaine Wattimena 7-2 Kevin Doets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Luke Humphries 8-4 Jermaine Wattimena<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"