10/08/2024

Dimitri van den Bergh stuns world champion Luke Humphries to setup showdown with Luke Littler in semifinals of Australian Darts Masters

Dimitri van den Bergh has qualified for the last four at the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong at the expense of Luke Humphries. 'The Dreammaker' floored the reigning world champion in the quarter-finals 6-2.

The Belgian delivered a rock-solid match. Van den Bergh reached an average of 103.19 and a finishing percentage of 37.5 percent. Humphries did not miss an arrow on the doubles, but fell short scoring with an average of only 90.16.

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Van den Bergh struck right away by breaking Humphries in the first leg with a 13-darter. A 16-darter and a 14-darter gave him a 3-0 lead. Van den Bergh then missed three chances to make it 4-0 before Humphries got on the scoreboard with a 108 finish. However, Humphries then had to surrender his own leg again due to a clever 11-darter by Van den Bergh. The Belgian number one then extended his lead to 5-1 with a 17-darter. Humphries rallied one more time with a 12-darter, but then Van den Bergh decided the match with a 16-darter.

Later on Saturday, Van den Bergh will take on Luke Littler, who makes his debut on Australian soil this weekend, in the semifinals. 'The Nuke' won 6-4 over Michael Smith in a spectacular match.

Through a 13-darter, 130 finish and an 11-darter, Smith managed to take a 3-1 lead early in the match. Littler was then not out in five visits, but Smith could not take advantage. Via a 17-darter, Littler closed to 2-3, before Smith missed seven chances on the doubles in the sixth leg. With a 20-darter, Littler returned to 3-3.

Littler then took over the lead with an 11-darter. The 17-year-old teenage sensation was then on his way to a nine-darter, but after seven perfect darts in a row, the treble 19 was missed. He did leave 48, but was not allowed to throw for it again. Smith threw out 161 in glorious fashion and brought the score to 4-4. Bullyboy' then missed two break opportunities in the ninth leg, before Littler regained the lead with a 14-darter. Littler then took advantage of a poorer leg from his compatriot to finish the match with a 66 finish. Littler's average ended up at 104.03, compared to 99.93 for Smith.