Luke Humphries was a leg from going out in the final, and then he wasn’t. His 8-7 win over Luke Littler at Madison Square Garden made him the first player to win the US Darts Masters two years running.
The final was a best-of-15. Humphries led 4-1 early. He missed his chance to go four clear, Littler got back to 4-2, and then the world champion won four legs in a row to move 5-4 ahead. Humphries levelled with a 72 checkout. The decider went to him, in 11 darts.
His average for the match was 104.05. Littler averaged just under 100 and hit nine maximums.
The pair are ranked first and second in the world, and they had played on the same side earlier in June, when they won the World Cup of Darts for England. This was Littler’s first final in New York.
“It’s great to go back-to-back,” Humphries said. “I’m always out to set records and do things that not many players have done.” Of the final itself he said it was “just another brilliant game in the saga of Luke v Luke.” Littler called the event an “unbelievable experience.”
Close calls on the way
Humphries was nearly out a round earlier. In the semi-final Gian van Veen missed two match darts, and Humphries came back from 6-3 down to win 7-6. Before that he beat Stephen Bunting 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Bunting’s 164 finish was the biggest of the event.
Littler had an easier road. He beat Jim Long 6-1, then James Wade 7-4 in the semi-finals. Wade hit all of his attempts at double but won only four legs.
The tournament ran over two days, June 25 and 26, with 16 players and a 100,000 pound prize fund. Humphries took 30,000 pounds and his third World Series title.
Sources
- 2026 US Darts Masters – Wikipedia
- World number one Luke Humphries ecstatic to win 'very special' US Darts Masters title | Flashscore.nl
