Luke Humphries begins his title defense at the
World Grand Prix next Monday. 'Cool Hand Luke' will take on Stephen Bunting in the opening round, against whom he won the final of Players Championship 26 just last Thursday.
Last year's World Grand Prix was the first major title in Humphries' career. “The World Grand Prix will always hold great memories for me,” admitted Humphries.
“The fact it was my first major tournament win makes it special, and it was the catalyst to allow me to go on and win everything else.
“If I didn’t win the World Grand Prix, the last 12 months could have been completely different for me, but it gave me the confidence to win a lot more, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Multiple titles
Humphries steamed on after his first major title, winning several more major titles, with the World Darts Championship as the absolute crowning achievement.
“When I won the World Grand Prix, I thought: ‘That’s a great start to my career with my first major win, and I’d love to follow it up with another title in the next 12 months’.
“That would have been a realistic goal and a great achievement, but to follow it up with back-to-back titles and of course the World Championship was incredible.
The 29-year-old Englishman sometimes has to pinch himself in the arm to realize all that is happening to him. “Sitting here now – I’ve made eight or nine major finals in 12 months which is something quite incredible, and something I may not be able to do again!
“It’s incredibly tough, but I just want to keep working hard, playing well and I will try to lift as many major titles as I can.”
Taylor and Van Gerwen
Only Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have ever managed to succeed themselves as World Grand Prix winners. “I won’t be putting too much pressure on myself to try and retain every trophy that I’ve won, because it’s going to be almost impossible to replicate what I did last year,” added Humphries.
“I always say my goal is to pick up a couple of major titles every year, and if you do that, you’ll be sat in the top four for a long time.
Michael van Gerwen, along with Phil Taylor, is the only one who successfully defended his title at the World Grand Prix
“It feels amazing to be mentioned in that bracket. Phil and Michael are two of the players I’ve looked up to throughout my career,” continued the World Champion.
“When I first started watching darts it was all about Phil Taylor and him winning everything, and when I started to play competitively, it was the Michael van Gerwen era!
“I can now always say I have had the kind of year that Phil and Michael have enjoyed – that 12-month period of dominance.
