"'I bottled it', that's what he said" - Luke Humphries survives scare vs Stephen Bunting in World Grand Prix opener

Luke Humphries had to fight back from the brink in the opening round of the 2024 World Grand Prix. The reigning champion in Leicester lost the first five legs of the match before roaring back to eventually win 2-1 over Stephen Bunting.

Bunting, after winning the first five legs, even had a matchdart in leg 6 for the whitewash but couldn't capitalize. “These are the games you live for,” said a relieved Humphries afterwards. “Stephen was very unlucky there. He was the better player overall, but I never gave in, and that is a true champion’s attitude. As soon as I won the first leg, I knew the opportunity was there, and I worked incredibly hard to get myself back into the game.”

"It's probably in my eyes, one of the toughest draws I could have got so I knew that I was in for a really, really tough game against Stephen," continues the world champion. "'I bottled it', that's what he said. But I don't think he did to be honest, he just missed one good dart."  

World number one, world champion and defending World Grand Prix champion, Humphries is heavily favoured to take another major title this week in Leicester. "But tonight showed that I'm definitely not unbeatable," he insists. "I'm just happy now, as we go into the next round that it's best of five and you can escape a couple of mistakes."

"The first round is always a lottery. To be honest anybody can win, anybody can beat anybody, so once you make it past the first round, then the second round favours the better player a lot more," Humphries concludes. "But, I was five legs down there, anybody can beat me if they play well enough."