Sporting Life
Luke Humphries (Picture: PDC Europe)
Luke Humphries (Picture: PDC Europe)

Darts results: Luke Humphries wins Players Championship 15

By Sporting Life
Darts
Mon July 10, 2023 · 1y ago

Luke Humphries celebrated his second ranking title in the space of nine days after defying a superb fightback from Dave Chisnall to triumph in Monday’s Players Championship 15 final in Leicester.

The first event of this week’s PDC ProTour double-header saw the top two players on the ProTour Order of Merit battling it out for the title, and it was Humphries who claimed the spoils in dramatic fashion.

The triumph for Humphries comes just over a week after he took victory in the Interwetten European Darts Matchplay in Trier, and is a further boost for the world number six following a resilient display in the final.

Chisnall converted 110 and 78 combinations to establish the early initiative in Monday's showpiece, but Humphries responded with a terrific five-leg burst, reeling off legs in 12, 15, 16, 12 and 13 darts to seize control.

The former World Youth champion took out finishes of 121, 78 and 94 during this spell, and he appeared poised to complete an emphatic victory after following up back-to-back maximums with a 116 checkout in leg ten to lead 7-3.

However, Humphries relinquished his grip on proceedings after spurning six match darts across three legs, and Chisnall capitalised to force a decider, only for the Crewe-based ace to regain his poise with a 13-dart hold to clinch the £12,000 top prize.

“I’ll be honest, my bottle started to go - I felt really nervous,” conceded Humphries, who had lost two European Tour finals to Chisnall in Kiel and Leeuwarden earlier this year.

"I've played in many European Tour finals, I've played in a major TV final, but that was the most nervous I've felt.

"All of my success has come on the TV stage and the European Tour. I think these events are so hard to win, and I'm so happy to win today, because it's been a long time since I won a floor tournament."

It was a memorable day for Humphries, who also landed his first competitive nine-darter on his way to victory in Leicester, achieving perfection in his third round clash against Canada's Matt Campbell.

"When I hit it I celebrated a bit, because it's a big moment for me," added the 28-year-old, who had only won a solitary Players Championship title previously.

"I think that was my tenth attempt at a double for a nine-darter on the ProTour, and today was finally my day.

"I don't think I played my best darts today, but I kept grinding out results and when I got to the latter stages I started producing.

"I was maybe a little lucky to get through to that stage, but I will take the title!"

Players Championship 15 results

Last 16

  • Dave Chisnall 6-0 Owen Bates
  • Joe Cullen 6-1 Dylan Slevin
  • Berry van Peer 6-2 Ian White
  • Ryan Searle 6-3 Kevin Doets
  • Luke Humphries 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
  • Jonny Clayton 6-1 Chris Dobey
  • Radek Szaganski 6-5 Damon Heta
  • Brendan Dolan 6-5 Josh Rock

Quarter-Finals

  • Dave Chisnall 6-5 Joe Cullen
  • Ryan Searle 6-3 Berry van Peer
  • Luke Humphries 6-3 Jonny Clayton
  • Brendan Dolan 6-2 Radek Szaganski

Semi-finals

  • Dave Chisnall 7-3 Ryan Searle
  • Luke Humphries 7-2 Brendan Dolan

Final

  • Luke Humphries 8-7 Dave Chisnall

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