Luke Humphries

English darts player (born 1995) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Luke Humphries

Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number one. He is a former PDC World Champion, having won the 2024 World Championship, defeating Luke Littler in the final.

Quick Facts Personal information, Nickname ...
Luke Humphries
Thumb
Humphries in April 2025
Personal information
Nickname"Cool Hand Luke"
Born (1995-02-11) 11 February 1995 (age 30)
Newbury, Berkshire, England
Home townCrewe, Cheshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since2010
Darts22g Red Dragon Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on musicI Predict a Riot” by Kaiser Chiefs
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC2011–
(Tour Card: 2018–)
Current world ranking(PDC) 1 (21 April 2025)[1]
PDC premier events – best performances
World ChampionshipWinner (1): 2024
World MatchplayWinner (1): 2024
World Grand PrixWinner (1): 2023
UK OpenRunner Up: 2021, 2024
Grand SlamWinner (1): 2023
European ChampionshipQuarter Final: 2022, 2023, 2024
Premier LeagueRunner Up: 2024
PC FinalsWinner (2): 2023, 2024
MastersWinner (1): 2025
World Series FinalsSemi Final: 2023
Other tournament wins
PDC World Cup of Darts (team event)2024
PDC Home Tour Event 2 2020

European Tour Events (x7)

Czech Darts Open 2022, 2024
European Darts Grand Prix 2022
European Darts Matchplay 2022, 2023
German Darts Grand Prix 2022, 2024

Players Championships (x4)

Players Championship (Barnsley) 2022, 2023
Players Championship (Leicester) 2023
Players Championship (Wigan) 2024

World Series of Darts

New Zealand Darts Masters 2024

Youth Events

World Youth Championship2019
Development Tour (x11) 2017 (x5), 2018 (x3),
2019 (x3)

Challenge Tour

Challenge Tour 2017
Close

Nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" in reference to the 1967 film, Humphries has won six other PDC major televised singles titles: the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals in 2023, the World Matchplay and Players Championship Finals in 2024, and the 2025 World Masters. He has also won the 2024 World Cup of Darts for England, partnering Michael Smith. He won his first World Series of Darts title at the 2024 New Zealand Darts Masters. Humphries has won a total of twenty-one PDC titles in his professional career.

In his youth career, Humphries won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship and eleven PDC Development Tours, making him one of the most successful players in the history of the PDC's youth system.

Early life

Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Newbury, Berkshire and grew up there, later moving to Crewe, Cheshire.[2][3][4] He is of Irish descent through his maternal grandfather.[5]

His father, a Leeds United FC fan, named him Luke as an acronym for "Leeds United, Kings of Europe". Humphries is also fan of the team.[6] His father also played county darts for Berkshire, which prompted a young Humphries to want to follow in his footsteps.[7]

Career

Summarize
Perspective

2017–2018

Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 2017, finishing top of the Development Tour Order of Merit. As a result of this, he qualified for the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship and received a PDC Tour Card for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.[8] He also won a PDC Challenge Tour title in Event 12, defeating Andy Smith 5–4 in the final.[9] At the 2018 World Championship, he lost 2–0 to Jeff Smith in the preliminary round.[10] He added another three titles to his name during the 2018 Development Tour,[11] topping the Order of Merit once again.[12]

2019: World Youth Champion

At the 2019 World Championship, Humphries had his breakthrough event on television, beating Adam Hunt, Stephen Bunting, Dimitri Van den Bergh, and defending champion Rob Cross,[13] before eventually losing to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.[14]

Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Humphries was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him.[15] He played a one-off match against Gerwyn Price on night four in Exeter, which ended in a 6–6 draw.[16]

At the age of 24, Humphries won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, where he beat Adam Gawlas 6–0 in the final.[17]

2020

In the 2020 World Championship, Humphries once again reached the quarter-finals before losing 5–3 to eventual champion Peter Wright.[18] Humphries was once again selected for the Premier League, this time under the tag of 'challenger'. He faced Gary Anderson in Exeter and became the first challenger to win their game.[19][20] Humphries was the winner of PDC Home Tour 2 after winning five of his six Championship Group matches, beating Jonny Clayton based on leg difference.[21]

2021: First major final

In the 2021 World Championship, Humphries suffered a shock 3–2 first-round defeat to 66-year-old Paul Lim.[22] He made his first major televised final at the 2021 UK Open in March 2021. His run to the final saw him claim wins over Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals and then-reigning champion Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. He was defeated 11–5 by James Wade in the final.[23]

2022: European Tour wins

In the 2022 World Championship, Humphries reached his third quarter-final in four years before losing 5–2 to Gary Anderson.[24] He won his maiden PDC ranking title in the opening Players Championship event of the year, defeating Ryan Searle 8–4 in the final.[25]

Humphries reached his first PDC European Tour final at the German Darts Grand Prix by beating Jeffrey de Zwaan,[26] Michael Smith and Wesley Plaisier before a 7–0 whitewash against Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. He beat Martin Lukeman 8–2 in the final.[27] He then won back-to-back titles at the Czech Darts Open and the European Darts Grand Prix before adding an 8–7 win against Rowby-John Rodriguez in the final of the 2022 European Darts Matchplay, ending the year with four European Tour titles.[28]

His year culminated with back-to-back major semi-finals at the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals, being eliminated by Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen respectively.[29][30]

2023: First major titles

In the 2023 World Championship, Humphries reached the fourth round before losing 4–1 to Stephen Bunting.[31] He won a European Tour title and two Players Championship titles on the 2023 PDC Pro Tour. Humphries retained the European Darts Matchplay, surviving four match darts from Dirk van Duijvenbode to prevail 8–7 in a deciding leg.[32] Over a week later, he defeated Dave Chisnall 8–7 to win Players Championship 15.[33] He then defeated Kevin Doets 8–6 in the final of Players Championship 20.[34]

In October, Humphries won his first major title at the 2023 World Grand Prix, defeating tournament favourite Gerwyn Price 5–2 in the final.[35] The £120,000 prize money earned through this victory saw him move into a career-high fourth in the PDC Order of Merit.[36] He won his second major televised title 42 days later at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts, defeating Rob Cross 16–8 in the final with a three-dart average of 104.69.[37] Humphries won his third televised title at the 2023 Players Championship Finals. He came back from 9–5 down to defeat Michael van Gerwen 11–9 in a match where van Gerwen hit a nine-dart finish but missed eight darts at doubles in the 19th leg to set up a deciding leg, before Humphries won the match on double 1.[38]

2024: World Champion

Thumb
Humphries playing darts with then-UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Humphries entered the 2024 World Championship with many considering him the favourite to win the tournament.[39][40] Humphries won his opening match against Lee Evans 3–0.[41] In the third round, Humphries recovered from 3–1 down to beat Ricardo Pietreczko 4–3.[42] He then got through a sudden death leg against Joe Cullen to advance to the quarter-finals. Humphries achieved wins against Dave Chisnall and Scott Williams to reach the final. On 3 January 2024, Humphries won the World Championship, winning five sets in a row to defeat fellow Cheshire talent Luke Littler 7–4 in the final.[43] Following his victory, he was invited to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street.[44]

In March, Humphries reached the final of the UK Open for the second time. He missed two match darts to win the title in an 11–10 loss to Dimitri Van den Bergh.[45][46] He won his first European Tour title of the season at the German Darts Grand Prix, winning 8–1 against Michael van Gerwen in the final with an average of 112.66—the second highest average in a European Tour final.[47] Humphries represented England for the first time in the World Cup of Darts in June, partnering Michael Smith.[48] The pair became the first English team to win the tournament since 2016, defeating Austria 10–6 in the final.[49]

Thumb
Humphries (right) with Michael Smith after their win in the 2024 PDC World Cup of Darts

In July, he won the World Matchplay, beating Michael van Gerwen 18–15 in the final.[50] This made him only the second player after Phil Taylor to win the World Championship and the World Matchplay in the same year.[51] In August, Humphries won his first World Series of Darts title, defeating Damon Heta 8–2 to win the New Zealand Darts Masters.[52]

In October, Humphries started his defence of the World Grand Prix after his victory over Gerwyn Price in the 2023 final. After an impressive comeback from 1–0 down in sets and 2–0 down in legs in the second set against Stephen Bunting in the first round,[53] he was able to reach the final for a second consecutive year. However, he lost 6–4 to outsider Mike De Decker.[54] Humphries added two more Pro Tour titles during the month, with an 8–7 win over Stephen Bunting in the final at Players Championship 26[55] and an 8–1 win over Kim Huybrechts in the final of the Czech Darts Open.[56]

In November, following elimination in the group stage of the Grand Slam,[57] Humphries successfully defended a title for the first time at the Players Championship Finals, defeating Luke Littler 11–7 in the final, becoming only the third player in history to win the title in 2 consecutive years, after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.[58][59]

Premier League Darts debut

Humphries lost his full-time debut match[60] of the 2024 Premier League to Luke Littler 6–2.[61] After the match, Humphries wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he felt "gutted" with the constant whistling and heckling at him during the match.[62] On night three, he lost to Michael van Gerwen 6–5 in the night's final.[63] Humphries won his first Premier League night on night six with wins over Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross and Michael Smith.[64][65] He won a second consecutive night on night seven, beating Nathan Aspinall 6–3 in the final.[66][67] Humphries equalled the record for most consecutive nightly wins in the Premier League after making it three in a row on night eight, where he achieved another triumph over Michael Smith in a 6–2 victory in the final.[68][69] Night nine saw Humphries' winning streak come to an end, losing to Luke Littler 6–5 in a deciding leg.[70] Having previously announced that he would be changing his walk-on song from "Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE from night fifteen onwards, Humphries premiered his new walk-on song, "I Predict a Riot" by Kaiser Chiefs, on night fifteen at the Leeds Arena. Humphries defeated Rob Cross and Michael Smith each by a 6–1 margin, before beating Michael van Gerwen 6–5 in the final to win the night.[71] Humphries announced he would raffle off his match-worn shirt from night fifteen and donate the proceeds to the Rob Burrow Foundation, a charity for motor neurone disease.[72] On night sixteen, he lost 6–3 to Michael Smith in the final.[73]

After sixteen nights, Humphries finished second in the Premier League table behind Luke Littler.[74] This drew Humphries against Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final of the playoffs. He won the semi-final 10–5 to advance to the final, which he lost 11–7 to Littler.[75][76][77]

2025

At the 2025 World Championship, Humphries began his title defence with a 3–0 whitewash win over Thibault Tricole,[78] followed by a 4–0 victory against Nick Kenny,[79] setting up a fourth round tie against Peter Wright. In the lead-up to the match, much attention was brought to what Humphries and Wright had to say about each other in their respective post-match interviews. Wright stated that he was ready to upset tournament favourites Humphries and Luke Littler, claiming that he could compete with and be better than them despite calls for him to retire. Humphries responded after his win against Nick Kenny, accusing Wright of "mind games". Humphries added, "I’m one world title away from almost matching his career, and I’m about 25 years younger, so I think one world title would match everything he’s ever achieved in the game."[80][81] In their match, Humphries leveled the contest at 1–1 before dropping the next three sets to lose to Wright 4–1, ending his tenure as world champion.[82]

In February, he won the PDC World Masters, defeating Jonny Clayton 6–5 to win his seventh major title.[83] He followed that up by winning the opening night of the 2025 Premier League with a 6–1 victory over Chris Dobey in the night's final.[84] He secured his second nightly win on night four by claiming his first Premier League victory over Luke Littler, defeating him 6–4 in their seventh meeting.[85] He achieved his first televised nine-dart finish in his 6–4 loss to Rob Cross on night five.[86][87]

Personal life

Humphries previously worked as a roofer, retiring in 2018 to pursue darts full-time.[88]

During a match at the 2019 German Darts Open, Humphries suffered an anxiety attack. He considered quitting the sport as a result.[89]

Humphries began a weight loss journey in 2021 in order to improve his fitness and stamina, which led to him losing four stone (56 pounds). He attributes his success in darts to his loss in weight, claiming that it has made him a stronger person and that he no longer runs out of energy during longer days of play.[90][88]

Humphries and his fiancée, Kayley, live in Crewe and had a son together in October 2022.[4][91] On 30 May 2024, whilst in New York for the 2024 US Darts Masters, the couple became engaged, with Humphries proposing to her on the top floor of The Edge.[92]

World Championship results

PDC

Career finals

PDC major finals: 11 (7 titles)

More information Legend ...
Legend
World Championship (1–0)
World Matchplay (1–0)
UK Open (0–2)
Premier League (0–1)
World Grand Prix (1–1)
Grand Slam (1–0)
Players Championship Finals (2–0)
World Masters (1–0)
Close
More information Outcome, No. ...
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Runner-up 1. 2021 UK Open England James Wade 5–11 (l)
Winner 1. 2023 World Grand Prix (1) Wales Gerwyn Price 5–2 (s)
Winner 2. 2023 Grand Slam (1)  Rob Cross 16–8 (l)
Winner 3. 2023 Players Championship Finals (1)  Michael van Gerwen 11–9 (l)
Winner 4. 2024 World Championship (1) England Luke Littler 7–4 (s)
Runner-up 2. 2024 UK Open  Dimitri Van den Bergh 10–11 (l)
Runner-up 3. 2024 Premier League England Luke Littler 7–11 (l)
Winner 5. 2024 World Matchplay (1) Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 18–15 (l)
Runner-up 4. 2024 World Grand Prix Belgium Mike De Decker 4–6 (s)
Winner 6. 2024 Players Championship Finals (2)  Luke Littler 11–7 (l)
Winner 7. 2025 World Masters (1) Wales Jonny Clayton 6–5 (s)
Close

PDC World Series finals: 1 (1 title)

More information Outcome, No. ...
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2024 New Zealand Darts Masters Australia Damon Heta 8–2 (l)
Close

PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)

More information Outcome, No. ...
Outcome No. Year Championship Team Teammate Opponents in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 2024 World Cup of Darts  England Michael Smith  AustriaMensur Suljović and Rowby-John Rodriguez 10–6 (l)
Close
  1. (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

Summarize
Perspective

PDC

More information Tournament ...
Tournament2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
PDC Ranked televised events
World Championship DNQ Prel. QF QF 1R QF 4R W 4R
World Masters[N 1] DNQ 2R 2R 2R W
UK Open DNQ 3R 3R 4R F 4R 6R F QF
World Matchplay DNQ 2R 1R SF W
World Grand Prix DNQ 2R 1R W F
European Championship DNQ 2R QF QF QF
Grand Slam DNQ RR RR SF W RR
Players Championship Finals DNQ 1R 3R 3R SF W W
PDC Non-ranked televised events
Premier League DNP C C DNP F
World Cup DNQ W
World Series Finals DNQ SF QF
World Youth Championship 2R SF 2R W DNP
Career statistics
Season-end ranking NR NR 57 35 42 19 5 1 1
Close
  1. Before 2025 this was a non ranked event.

PDC Premier League Darts

More information Contender, Week 4 ...
Contender Week 4
2019 EXE
D
Contender Week 5
2020 EXE
W
Close
More information Legend: ...
Legend: WWinDDraw
Close
More information Season ...
Season1234567891011121314151617
2024 CAR
QF
BER
SF
GLA
F
NEW
QF
EXE
SF
BRI
W
NOT
W
DUB
W
BEL
QF
MAN
QF
BIR
SF
ROT
SF
LIV
QF
ABD
SF
LEE
W
SHF
F
LON
F
2025 BEL
W
GLA
F
DUB
SF
EXE
W
BRI
QF
NOT
QF
CAR
QF
NEW
F
GLA
SF
MAN
F
Close

PDC European Tour

More information Season ...
Season1234567891011121314
2018 EDO
1R
GDG
3R
GDO
2R
ADO
2R
Did not qualify EDM
2R
Did not qualify EDT
2R
2019 EDO
DNQ
GDC
2R
GDG
DNQ
GDO
2R
Did not qualify ADC
2R
Did not qualify
2020 BDC
1R
Did not qualify
2021 HDT
SF
GDT
1R
2022 IDO
DNQ
GDC
2R
GDG
W
ADO
2R
EDO
SF
CDO
W
EDG
W
DDC
WD
EDM
W
HDT
2R
GDO
QF
BDO
WD
GDT
QF
2023 BSD
F
EDO
WD
IDO
WD
GDG
QF
ADO
2R
DDC
F
BDO
F
CDO
QF
EDG
F
EDM
W
GDO
3R
HDT
F
GDC
SF
2024 BDO
3R
GDG
W
IDO
3R
EDG
QF
ADO
WD
BSD
F
DDC
DNP
EDO
2R
GDC
DNP
FDT
SF
HDT
2R
SDT
QF
CDO
W
2025 BDO
2R
EDT
QF
IDO
SF
GDG
WD
ADO
DNP
EDG
DDC
EDO
BSD
FDT
CDO
HDT
SDT
GDC
Close

PDC World Series of Darts

More information Season ...
Season1234567
2023 BAH
QF
NOR
QF
USA
SF
POL
QF
NSW
DNP
NZE
DNP
2024 BAH
QF
DUT
QF
USA
SF
NOR
SF
POL
QF
AUS
QF
NZE
W
2025 BAH
SF
DUT
1R
NOR
USA
POL
AUS
NZE
Close

PDC Players Championships

More information Season ...
Season12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
2018 BAR
1R
BAR
3R
BAR
2R
BAR
1R
MIL
1R
MIL
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
3R
WIG
1R
WIG
1R
MIL
1R
MIL
1R
WIG
2R
WIG
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
DUB
1R
DUB
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
SF
2019 WIG
2R
WIG
2R
WIG
1R
WIG
2R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
WIG
2R
WIG
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
2R
BAR
3R
BAR
2R
BAR
2R
BAR
1R
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
WIG
QF
WIG
3R
BAR
2R
BAR
3R
HIL
4R
HIL
2R
BAR
4R
BAR
1R
BAR
4R
BAR
DNP
DUB
2R
DUB
3R
BAR
3R
BAR
2R
2020 BAR
1R
BAR
1R
WIG
1R
WIG
3R
WIG
3R
WIG
2R
BAR
4R
BAR
3R
MIL
1R
MIL
2R
MIL
1R
MIL
2R
MIL
DNP
NIE
2R
NIE
1R
NIE
QF
NIE
3R
NIE
2R
COV
3R
COV
1R
COV
1R
COV
1R
COV
1R
2021 BOL
1R
BOL
1R
BOL
3R
BOL
2R
MIL
2R
MIL
F
MIL
3R
MIL
3R
NIE
F
NIE
2R
NIE
1R
NIE
3R
MIL
2R
MIL
3R
MIL
2R
MIL
F
COV
2R
COV
2R
COV
4R
COV
1R
BAR
4R
BAR
1R
BAR
QF
BAR
1R
BAR
3R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
4R
2022 BAR
W
BAR
4R
WIG
1R
WIG
QF
BAR
4R
BAR
3R
NIE
4R
NIE
SF
BAR
3R
BAR
QF
BAR
2R
BAR
4R
BAR
2R
WIG
1R
WIG
DNP
NIE
QF
NIE
3R
BAR
QF
BAR
SF
BAR
4R
BAR
2R
BAR
QF
BAR
1R
BAR
F
BAR
QF
BAR
2R
BAR
3R
BAR
F
BAR
1R
BAR
DNP
2023 BAR
4R
BAR
SF
BAR
3R
BAR
1R
BAR
3R
BAR
SF
HIL
4R
HIL
3R
WIG
3R
WIG
4R
LEI
3R
LEI
3R
HIL
DNP
HIL
DNP
LEI
W
LEI
1R
HIL
DNP
HIL
DNP
BAR
1R
BAR
W
BAR
QF
BAR
DNP
BAR
F
BAR
1R
BAR
DNP
BAR
SF
BAR
3R
DNP
2024 WIG
2R
WIG
1R
DNP LEI
3R
LEI
F
DNP MIL
4R
MIL
4R
MIL
SF
DNP WIG
QF
WIG
1R
LEI
3R
LEI
4R
WIG
4R
WIG
1R
WIG
W
WIG
4R
WIG
2R
LEI
DNP
LEI
DNP
2025 WIG
SF
DNP LEI
3R
LEI
F
DNP LEI
2R
LEI
3R
DNP HIL
HIL
LEI
LEI
LEI
HIL
HIL
MIL
MIL
MIL
HIL
HIL
LEI
LEI
LEI
WIG
WIG
WIG
WIG
WIG
Close
More information Performance Table Legend ...
Performance Table Legend
W Won the tournament F Finalist SF Semifinalist QF Quarterfinalist #R
RR
Prel.
Lost in # round
Round-robin
Preliminary round
DQ Disqualified
DNQ Did not qualify DNP Did not participate WD Withdrew NH Tournament not held NYF Not yet founded
Close

Nine-dart finishes

More information Date, Opponent ...
Luke Humphries's televised nine-dart finishes
Date Opponent Tournament Method Ref.
6 March 2025  Rob Cross 2025 Premier League Darts 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 [93]
Close

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.