Two years ago, Luke Humphries spoilt the party, so they say. He would stop a 16-year-old Luke Littler winning the World Darts Championship on debut, beating the youngster in the final to create his own history and reach his own destiny.
But there is more than one Luke in this sport. Littler may be the current world champion and world No1, but Humphries has done both of those things too. It feels, though, that, because he is 12 years older, there’s not as much talk about Cool Hand.
‘It doesn’t really bother me,’ Humphries tells Daily Mail Sport ahead of his first round game against Ted Evetts on Saturday, of Littler being the apparent star man rather than him. ‘It’s not like the media can’t talk about me. They can talk about both of us if they want. Luke is going to get the main attention obviously, but there is nothing to stop them talking about us both. It’s up to them.
‘If they don’t want to, there’s an obvious reason – it gets more clicks. Some of the things you see are pointless news articles and I’d rather be out of the limelight.’
Let’s, then, talk about Luke Humphries. 30 years old, former world champion and world No1, and has won just about everything there is to win. Second favourite to win the Worlds behind you know who and eager, seemingly, to prove a point.
‘I didn’t feel the pressure last year,’ he says of when he was the defending champion. ‘It’s easy to feel it, but I didn’t. Nothing that could have happened last year could have stopped me from being No1.
Luke Humphries (right) has opened up on losing his world No1 spot to rival and friend Luke Littler (left)
The duo are the best two players in the world and many and predicting them to face off in the final of the World Darts Championship
‘Everything was going good and I didn’t really feel like I had to be the champion. I would have liked it, but for me there wasn’t pressure then and I don’t feel it now. If you aren’t a world champion, you probably feel pressure every time because you want to win one – I have achieved one, but now it feels like how many. I feel good and confident I can do it again.’
Littler has caught up with him. Towards the end of the Grand Slam, the teenager overtook Humphries as World No1 after nearly two years of chasing.
Humphries, though, insists that doesn’t matter. These two are friends – and team-mates, on one occasion – and it’s a healthy rivalry.
‘It is just a number. and you can’t have an emotional feeling towards a number,’ Humphries argues. ‘I am world No1, then suddenly world No2… nothing really changes in your life.
‘It doesn’t mean I walk into a room or a stage an no one cares about you. There are so many benefits of being world No1 – financial benefits and the way people announce you – but that is what it is. ‘I am just accepting of the fact I am No2, but I can put a stop to that and get it back if I win the Worlds.’
It will be one of the two Lukes in that position at the end of the World Championship, no matter what anyone else does. This is a rivalry that is going to go on for a long time.
Some fans have criticised that. There are more games and more tournaments than ever now, and we’re therefore seeing the best face the best more often. As a knock-on, we’ve seen these two play each other 12 times this year. Some love that, some hate it. For Humphries, though – play on.
‘I want to see this rivalry last for 10 years,’ Humphries adds. ‘I don’t want anyone to come and take it away from us.
Littler took the No1 ranking during the Grand Slam of Darts earlier on this year, which he won
Humphries, though, doesn’t mind and is keen for the attention to be away from him
‘I am enjoying it. A lot of people enjoy it, a lot of people don’t enjoy it – I get it, but, if you are going to have more tournaments left right and centre and we are the two best players in the world, we are going to be playing each other. That’s just how it works.
‘It’s the same in tennis with [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner. In F1. It happens in every sport – the best in the world go against each other. It is always a privilege to play against Luke because it’s a chance for me to win another major and to beat him, because he is such a great player.’
Humphries is talking to Daily Mail Sport on behalf of Fireball Whiskey, who are again one of the sponsors of this year’s World Championship. Their main initiative this time around surrounds hunting for a ‘Final Boss’ to attend every day of the Championship, with the likes of Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price and Humphries featuring in the launch video.
The fan in question will stay in a fully-customised Fireball caravan outside Alexandra Palace, and have a winter to remember watching the world’s best darts players in action.
‘Every day?’ Humphries asks of the initiative. ‘Not every session? Come on.
‘You will have to book a lot of time off work. I’m not sure who could fill the role. I think Nathan Aspinall would be good at it. He would love those days on the beer.
‘It’s good to get fans more involved. As players, we thrive on the atmosphere. You get fans coming to exhibitions and they are so happy with the enjoyment of being involved and near us – whatever atmosphere they are apart of is good for us as players because we thrive off it too.’
‘I think changing my walk-on have got me a bit of a closer relationship with the fans. It gets me pumped up and I think a lot of fans would miss a lot of key moments to come to the darts. It’s rare to get tickets, especially for the Worlds now, so I can imagine some fans will be missing big days off work to watch us.’
Humphries stars in Fireball Whiskey’s advert to find darts’ Final Boss this Worlds
Fireball are challenging one fan to attend every day of the World Championship this year
Humphries is looking for a repeat of when he became world champion for the first time in 2024
Humphries now stands seven games away from reclaiming what used to be his in the world No1 spot and the World Championship crown. After admitting burnout earlier this year, he now feels fresh and ready to go again.
‘My standard of play has been a lot more consistent lately,’ he says. ‘When you go into the Worlds, you want to be in a good place and believe your game is in a place to be world champ.
‘When I was world champion, I was doing the same things I am doing now. Red hot form, 100+ averages… maybe I was winning a few more tournaments, but, when you’re competing against the likes of Luke and Gian [Van Veen], it’s not easy to get over the line.
‘Longer formats and one game a day really do suit me, and I have got that confidence in me. It doesn’t mean I will win it, but I feel confident I can, and that’s the most important thing.’
Luke Littler versus Luke Humphries, World Darts Championship final (again). It just has that ring to it.