Luke Humphries has revealed that he didn’t watch Luke Littler’s victory over Michael van Gerwen in the final of the World Darts Championship because he needed to switch off from the sport.
Humphries had gone into the tourmament at Alexandra Palace hoping to win it for the second year in a row.
However, the 29-year-old exited in the fourth round – with rival Peter Wright winning 4-1 to advance at his expense.
Littler would go on to secure glory in north London, with the now 18-year-old crushing Van Gerwen in the final.
Luke Humphries has revealed that he didn’t watch Luke Littler’s victory over Michael van Gerwen in the final of the World Darts Championship because he needed to switch off from the sport
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And Humphries, speaking to The Mirror, has now admitted he didn’t tune in to watch the action unfold because he needed to ‘switch off’.
“I didn’t watch any of it,” he said.
“My life had been all about darts in December and I just wanted to switch it off for a little bit.
“I could actually wake up on the 31st and not think about darts for a change. I didn’t watch any of it, I just wanted to break away from it.”
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On what he did instead, the world No 1 added: “I was probably playing Call of Duty or something.
“That’s something I like doing in my spare time. I checked on it every half-an-hour or so.
“When Luke went 4-0 up, I thought that was game over. He’s a bit like me, a great front-runner.
“When we get in front of people, we’re hard to peg back. I heard it wasn’t the most exciting final, but Luke did what he had to do. That’s the character he is.”
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Humphries was also asked about his own World Darts Championsip campaign.
He admits he was ‘disappointed’ after losing to Wright, something that’s understandable given his lofty ambitions.
But Humphries is focused on the future and pleased with everything he’s already achieved throughout his darts career so far.
“Of course I was disappointed,” he admitted.
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Luke Humphries was beaten by Peter Wright at the World Darts Championship
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“But you can’t win it every time. I’ve hopefully got 20 more years in the sport and I’ve got plenty more opportunities winner another.
“And if I never win another, I’ll always have that one time, which will go down in history.
“On reflection, 2024 was a great year for me. I was in five or six major finals. That World Championship didn’t detract from what was a great year.”
One target for the darts star is toppling Littler to win the Premier League.
Luke Littler poses with his trophy after winning the World Darts Championship earlier this month
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Some darts players hate playing in the competition due to the amount of travelling that’s involved – but Humphries isn’t one of them.
“You’re away from home a lot and the travelling can be tough but it’s a cool thing to be involved in. No arguments from me, I loved playing in it,” he said.
“I would really like to win it, it would match up with the Worlds and the Matchplay. Not many people have won all three in their careers.
“It’s a great field with a lot of class and talent. It would be really special to win it.”