"He's probably one of the toughest players to play because he's incredibly slow" - Luke Humphries reacts to dramatic defeat to Dimitri van den Bergh in UK Open final

Luke Humphries had matchdarts to win the UK Open for the first time in his career on Sunday night but eventually, 'Cool Hand Luke' went down 11-10 in the final against Dimitri van den Bergh.

Humphries survived some missed matchdarts from van den Bergh at 10-8 and 10-9, before blowing the chance he'd carved out for himself in the decider. “I didn’t play well in the final, but I gave everything," he said post-match. “I was very fortunate to get two match darts at the end there, and obviously I am gutted, but Dimitri played a good game and hit a couple of big shots at the right time."

“The crowd were amazing towards me, so I owed it to them to give it everything, and I’m really proud of the way I played again this weekend.”

The crowd weren't so friendly towards van den Bergh however, especially when the Belgian took longer and longer to throw as the finish line neared. "I wasn't angry at him, but I'm used to Dimitri being quite a flowy player and quite a good pace to play against. Whereas, he's completely different now. He's probably one of the toughest players to play because he's incredibly slow."

The 28-year-old Englishman did consolidate his lead in the world rankings thanks to this final place. "As much as I shouldn't keep saying it, I feel like a couple of weeks ago everyone was saying I'm like the worst world champion," Humphries says. "I always come back out and prove people wrong. I know I didn't win, but I proved again that I'm one of the best players."