Darts results: Mike De Decker stuns defending champion Luke Humphries to win his maiden major title at the World Grand Prix

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Mon October 14, 2024 · 2M ago

Mike De Decker caused one of the biggest shocks in darts history by shocking defending champion Luke Humphries 6-4 in the World Grand Prix final.

The 28-year-old Belgian was a 200/1 shot with some bookies before the tournament began in Leicester this week but after surviving a match dart against Damon Heta in the opening round, he then upset the odds to thrash multiple major champions Gary Anderson (3-0), James Wade (3-0) and Dimitri Van den Bergh (5-2) before producing an incredible performance to overcome the world number one.

De Decker hadn't previously gone as far as a televised quarter-final while Humphries was bidding to win a sixth major title in a awesome spell of dominance since lifting his first at the World Grand Prix 12 months ago.

It was the biggest shock since Andrew Gilding also made a mockery of 200/1 prices at the 2023 UK Open where he shocked Michael van Gerwen but some will argue De Decker's triumph is even more remarkable given the lengthy set play format and the calibre of player he's had to defeat throughout the week.

🤯 Mike De Decker shocks Luke Humphries to become the first 200/1 shot to win a major since Andrew Gilding stunned MVG at the 2023 UK Open!

Humphries was chasing a sixth major title in 12 months while De Decker had never even reached a QF before!pic.twitter.com/m4FVWFaq1W
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) October 13, 2024

The pair traded the opening two sets, which went to deciding legs, before De Decker surged into a commanding 4-1 lead which could easily have become 5-1 had Humphries not produced 149 and 152 checkouts from 2-0 down to get himself back into the contest.

Humphries built on this momentum to take the next two sets and level up the match only for De Decker to stop the rot in the ninth before completing the job in the 10th.

🤯 Mike de Decker was 200/1 before the World Grand Prix but defeated four players that had 26 major titles between them to claim his first!

✅ R2: 3-0 v Gary Anderson (8)
✅ QF: 3-0 v James Wade (11)
✅ SF: 5-2 v Dimitri Van den Bergh (2)
🏆F: 6-4 v Luke Humphries (5) pic.twitter.com/H3fBZlUFDa
— Sport on Sporting Life (@SLSport_) October 13, 2024

De Decker's success makes him only the second Belgian - alongside Van den Bergh - to taste victory in a televised PDC event, and his £120,000 windfall catapults him from 36th to 25th on the PDC Order of Merit.

"I'm so proud," said De Decker. "It feels amazing - I'm over the moon; I've been really happy with my performance all week, but this tops it off.

"Luke has been a phenomenal champion for the last year and he's such a nice person.

"The way Luke has been playing since last year is just brilliant and being the person that beats him this weekend, in a final, picking up this trophy; I'm so happy!

"I was cool in patches. In the beginning I was really nervous, then I calmed down and went 4-1 up. When he came back to 4-4 I started to get nervous again but I did it."

Humphries had stormed into the final with a sensational straight sets defeat of Ryan Joyce on Saturday - in which he averaged 100 - but De Decker's superior doubling proved crucial in seeing his bid to retain the title fall just short.

"I'm obviously gutted to lose - I felt like I really was just on the wires of everything," said Humphries.

"It frustrating but I'm so proud of Mike, he showed so much bottle. I know how it felt like to be in that position a year ago and he looked as cool as anything.

"It wasn't my night and sometimes you have to accept that it isn't - but you've got a great champion and he's got a target on his back now like I've got.

"He's a fantastic guy, a great player. There's a lot more big things to come from him after this."

Luke Humphries 4-6 Mike de Decker: Match stats

Set Scores: 3-2, 2-3, 0-3, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 2-3
Average
Humphries: 90.56
De Decker: 92.06
180s
Humphries: 14
De Decker: 16
Checkout %
Humphries: 37.7%
De Decker: 42.4%
100+ checkouts & high checkout
Humphries: 3 & 152
De Decker: 2 & 156

Routes to the World Grand Prix final

LUKE HUMPHRIES

R1: 2-1 v Stephen Bunting (0-3, 3-2, 3-1)
Average: 89.87
180s: 2
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 1 (118)
Checkout %: 33.33%
R2: 3-1 v Ricardo Pietreczko (3-0, 1-3, 3-1, 3-1)
Average: 92.01
180s: 3
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 2 (130)
Checkout %: 45.5%
QF: 3-1 v Jonny Clayton (3-1, 1-3, 3-2, 3-2)
Average: 86.6
180s: 5
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 1 (146)
Checkout %: 29.4%
SF: 5-0 v Ryan Joyce (3-0, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0, 3-0)
Average: 100.3
180s: 8
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 4 (146)
Checkout %: 60.0% (14/53)

MIKE DE DECKER

R1: 2-1 v Damon Heta (3-2, 1-3, 3-2)
Average: 92.01
180s: 3
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 2 (150)
Checkout %: 46.7%
R2: 3-0 v Gary Anderson (3-0, 3-2, 3-2)
Average: 95.74
180s: 4
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 2 (160)
Checkout %: 60.0%
QF: 3-0 v James Wade (3-2, 3-2, 3-2)
Average: 91.64
180s: 2
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 1 (146)
Checkout %: 50.0%
SF: 5-2 v Dimitri Van den Bergh (0-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1)
Average: 86.32
180s: 9
100+ Checkouts (Highest): 2 (150)
Checkout %: 38.1%

2024 World Grand Prix statistics

Tournament Average
Humphries: 91.13
De Decker: 91.38
Tournament 180s
Humphries: 32
De Decker: 34
Checkout %
Humphries: 41.41%
De Decker: 45.56%
Double-in %
Humphries: 43.75%
De Decker: 48.55%
100+ checkouts & high checkout
Humphries: 11 & 152
De Decker: 9 & 160