Darts results: Luke Humphries defeats record-breaking Luke Littler to win night four of the Premier League Darts season

By Sporting Life

Darts

Fri February 28, 2025 · 3M ago

Luke Humphries claimed his first ever Premier League Darts victory over Luke Littler to take all five points in Exeter on Thursday night.

Cool Hand had lost all six of their previous meetings since they both made their tournament debuts in 2024 - including last year's final - but the world number one finally stopped the rot to win his second night of the campaign and extend his lead at the top of the table to seven points over the defending champion.

Humphries edged the contest 6-4 with an average of 101.24 compared to Littler's 97.8 while he also hit six of the 11 maximums and pinned 46% of his doubles.

The 30-year-old, who also triumphed in Belfast in week one, off his Night Four campaign with a 6-4 success against Gerwyn Price, punishing six missed darts from the Welshman in a dramatic finale.

Humphries then landed a trio of ton-plus checkouts in the latter stages of his comeback win over Rob Cross, converting 121, 167 and 116 finishes to triumph in a captivating deciding-leg tussle.

In the final, Littler drew first blood with an eye-catching 144 checkout, before firing in back-to-back 14-dart legs to establish a 3-1 advantage.

However, the Warrington wonderkid spurned four darts for a 4-1 lead, sparking a mid-match fightback from Humphries, who levelled up proceedings with an 11-darter in leg six.

Littler then paid the price for further missed opportunities in the penultimate leg of the contest, as Humphries crashed in a brace of 13-dart legs to continue his superb start to the season.

“It was hard work tonight, but it felt good,” reflected Humphries, who averaged 101 and hit six 180s to sink the teenage sensation. "I felt like my game was in a good place, but in certain moments I struggled.

“Luke played fantastically tonight, but he didn’t play as great in the final, and I managed to put my foot on the gas right at the end of the game. That's the first time I’ve beaten Luke in the Premier League, so it’s nice to get that monkey off my back, because if you keep losing, it gets harder and harder.

“It’s a dream start for me, so hopefully I can keep pushing and picking up the points.”

Despite missing out on a second nightly win of the season, Littler performed magnificently in Exeter, averaging 112 and 109 in wins over Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall respectively.

Luke Littler hit TEN 180s in his 6-3 win over Stephen Bunting to set a new Premier League record for this format!

He averaged 112.34, while Bunting hit six 180s and averaged 106. Here's a taste of how good it was...pic.twitter.com/ZmKTOxHHoc
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) February 27, 2025

Littler averaged 112.34 to win through an extraordinary quarter-final clash against Bunting, in a contest which featured 16 maximums in just nine legs.

The Nuke hit 10 of those which was a record for a single Premier League regular season match since the format of the competition changed.

The World Champion then averaged 109.67 to sweep aside Night Three runner-up Aspinall, who defied five 180s from Chris Dobey to triumph in a last-leg shoot-out earlier in the evening.

The evening’s other quarter-final saw Cross edge out seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen, after he survived three match darts to defeat the Dutch superstar for the sixth time in their last seven meetings.