Luke Littler denied his great rival Luke Humphries in an epic deciding-set contest to win his maiden World Masters title in Milton Keynes last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world’s top two players went head-to-head in an all-time classic at Arena MK, as Littler fought back from 5-4 down in sets to add another Premier televised title to his extensive collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries appeared poised to retain the coveted crown after recovering from 3-1 down to lead, only for Littler to defy a 105.51 average from the world number two in scooping the \u00a3100,000 top prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defending champion landed the first blow in a closely-fought opening stanza, but an effortless 153 checkout from Littler in set two shifted the pendulum and saw him establish a 2-1 buffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries responded with a 13-dart break as he sought to draw level, but a relentless Littler maintained his charge, converting back-to-back 121 outshots to stretch his lead to 3-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His astonishing run of combination finishing continued as he pinned the bull for an 87 kill to open set five, before Humphries hit back with a blistering four-leg burst to level at 3-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries averaged 123 in a staggering fifth set display, but he was unable to hit the front in set seven, squandering three set darts as Littler regained control once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the reigning champion conjured up a crucial 12-dart break to wrap up set eight, which he followed up with a 108 checkout and a 13-darter in the ninth to close in on a famous victory at 5-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler wasn’t to be denied, however, registering legs of 13 and 12 darts to force a deciding set, which he subsequently claimed in consecutive legs to end Humphries’ reign in Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m absolutely shattered after that,”\u00a0admitted Littler, who averaged 104.72 to clinch his fourth straight televised ranking title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Going into the last break at 5-4 down I said to myself: ‘I’ve got nothing left’, but I managed to dig deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Coming in after that last break, I was fully focused and I got the job done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s been a tough tournament at times, but this is why we battle, every game, every leg, and I’ve come out victorious.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler’s path to glory was anything but serene, having survived a match dart in his opening round win over Belgian number one Mike De Decker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warrington wonderkid then put on a darting clinic to topple Ross Smith in round two, which was backed up with wins over his Premier League rivals Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price on Finals Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19-year-old dispatched Rock in quick-fire fashion in the quarter-finals, averaging almost 106 to eliminate Northern Ireland’s number one in less than 13 minutes of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler then prevailed in a nine-set thriller against Price, surviving a match dart from the Welshman in the penultimate leg of their compelling semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries, meanwhile, performed magnificently throughout the weekend, averaging over 101 in each of his five matches in Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fresh from his nine-dart heroics on Saturday, the 30-year-old stormed through to Sunday’s decider with successive whitewash wins against Dutch duo Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries averaged 101.67 to demolish Noppert in a repeat of last year’s semi-final at Arena MK, which set up a fascinating last four showdown against Van Veen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Champion had won the pair’s last five meetings, but Humphries halted that sequence in emphatic style, averaging 107.8 to complete a darting demolition job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Of course I’m gutted not to win it, but you have to take the positives,”\u00a0claimed Humphries, who is determined to build on a terrific campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I can go away this weekend and know that my game is in a good place again. It’s been a great tournament for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You look back at the whole game and it’s hard to pick holes in it because it was such a great game of darts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Luke showed his true class there. He never folds under pressure, and this may be premature, but I think he’s the greatest darts player that’s ever lived.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite his defeat to Humphries, Van Veen’s debut run to the semi-finals featured a terrific 4-2 victory over James Wade \u2013 aided by a staggering 73% checkout success rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the afternoon’s other quarter-final, Price ran out a 4-2 winner against 2023 Masters champion Dobey, pinning ten of his 17 attempts at double to complete a clinical display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his latest triumph, Littler’s focus now switches to the Premier League, which gets underway in Newcastle on Thursday February 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world number one will open his campaign against Van Veen in a repeat of last month’s World Championship final, while Humphries begins his title defence against Price at the Utilita Arena. Luke Littler denied his great rival Luke Humphries in an epic deciding-set contest to win his maiden World<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8691,"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-8690","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
<\/strong>
RESULTS<\/strong>
Quarter-Finals<\/strong>
Gerwyn Price 4-2 Chris Dobey (1-2, 2-1, 2-1, 2-0, 1-2, 2-0)
Luke Littler 4-0 Josh Rock (2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 2-0)
Gian van Veen 4-2 James Wade (2-0, 0-2, 2-0, 0-2, 2-1, 2-0)
Luke Humphries 4-0 Danny Noppert (2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 2-1)
Semi-Finals<\/strong>
Luke Littler 5-4 Gerwyn Price (2-1, 1-2, 2-0, 1-2, 2-0, 0-2, 2-0, 0-2, 2-1)
Luke Humphries 5-0 Gian van Veen (2-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 2-1)
Final<\/strong>
Luke Littler 6-5 Luke Humphries (1-2, 2-1, 2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 0-2, 2-1, 1-2, 1-2, 2-0, 2-0)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"