Luke Humphries crashes out of Players Championship in European Championship rematch
Luke Humphries has crashed out of Players Championship at the first hurdle.
Defending champion Humphries squared of Gian van Veen in Minehead – in a rematch of their instant classic at the European Championship last month. In Germany, it was Van Veen that came out on top.
And Cool Hand was out for revenge as he defended his Players Championship crown – which he has won for the past two years. However, he has fallen at the first hurdle to the young Dutch star.
Cool Hand raced into a three leg lead, and he came close to a fourth before Van Veen took out a wonderful 161. The Dutchman turned towards the players area and roared as he took his first leg.
There was suddenly a shift as Humphries started to fall away and Van Veen worked his way back into the match. Cool Hand was still reeling from the 161 and Van Veen was breathing down his neck.
The Dutchman was taking leg-after-leg-after-leg – and all of sudden he was level and had the throw. And after some messing about on doubles in the final leg, Van Veen repeated his European win.
“I genuinely think Humphries is one of the greats, you can’t win what he has without being one… But he is easily the worst top 10 ever player in last leg deciders. Never fancy him,” one fan admitted.
“This completely changed the game. Humphries’ game seemed to fall apart after this, which is very unlike him. Minehead causing seeds to fall as always,” a second said, sharing Van Veen’s 161 checkout.
“Humphries completely lost his head, hope he sorts it out for worlds,” a third shared. And another added: “Wow Humphries threw away so many darts…”
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