Luke Humphries retained the US Darts Masters title with a thrilling deciding-leg victory against Luke Littler on a record-breaking night in New York on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries created another slice of history in the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden, becoming the first player to win back-to-back titles in the Big Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries and Littler partnered England to World Cup glory earlier this month, and the world\u2019s top two resumed their rivalry in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,000 fans \u2013 a record for darts in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler was aiming to lift the coveted crown for the first time in his career, although the reigning champion had other ideas, racing into a commanding 4-1 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world number one responded with four straight legs to seize the initiative, only for Humphries to produce a late turnaround and celebrate his third World Series of Darts title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the most iconic venue I think darts will ever go to,\u201d reflected Humphries, who averaged 104 to prevail in a thrilling finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery year we come here it gets better and better, and the fans have been absolutely amazing. It\u2019s been insane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to go back-to-back. I\u2019m always out to set records and do things that not many players have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe and Luke always have fantastic games, and it\u2019s just another brilliant game in the saga of Luke v Luke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel if I can keep performing like this then I can keep pushing him, because he\u2019s unbelievable. He\u2019s the toughest player in the world to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries was averaging over 107 in the opening stages of Friday\u2019s showpiece, but after squandering two darts for a 5-1 lead, the pendulum appeared to shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler \u2013 who crashed in nine maximums during a pulsating affair \u2013 hit back with a trademark mid-match burst to take control, but Humphries stemmed the tide with a clinical 72 kill to level at 5-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair then exchanged convincing holds in the closing stages, and the advantage of throw proved pivotal for Humphries, who conjured a sensational 11-darter in the decider to complete the fairytale in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 31-year-old performed magnificently on Finals Day, overcoming Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen en route to his latest big stage title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having averaged almost 106 in a 6-3 win against Bunting, Humphries produced a sensational four-leg flurry to topple Van Veen, overturning a 6-3 deficit and surviving two match darts to triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler, meanwhile, followed up his opening round victory over David Cameron by accounting for another Canadian in the quarter-finals, averaging north of 102 in his 6-1 demolition of Jim Long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Champion then fended off a resilient James Wade in the last four, despite the ten-time TV title winner averaging over a ton and hitting all of his four attempts at double.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was an unbelievable experience tonight,\u201d admitted the 19-year-old, who was featuring in his maiden US Darts Masters final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere were a lot of England fans here who are going to the game [tomorrow] so I appreciate them coming along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the night went on they got louder and louder, and I wish I was in the crowd with them to be fair!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the night, Wade won through a high-quality affair against Gerwyn Price, defying a 103.93 average from the 2024 runner-up in sealing a 6-3 success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the evening\u2019s other quarter-final, Van Veen swept aside Jonny Clayton by the same scoreline, averaging north of 106 and converting a brace of ton-plus checkouts in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a record-breaking event in New York, the World Series of Darts continues with a double-header in New Zealand and Australia in August, with visits to Auckland and Wollongong preceding September\u2019s World Series of Darts Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Semi-Finals Final Luke Humphries retained the US Darts Masters title with a thrilling deciding-leg victory against Luke Littler on a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14282,"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-14281","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
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Luke Littler 6-1 Jim Long
James Wade 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Gian van Veen 6-3 Jonny Clayton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Luke Littler 7-4 James Wade
Luke Humphries 7-6 Gian van Veen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Luke Humphries 8-7 Luke Littler<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"