"I hope I'm not playing darts professionally in 20 years" - Luke Humphries already has end date in mind for career

Since taking his breakthrough success at the 2023 World Grand Prix, Luke Humphries has gone from strength to strength. The current world champion and world number one, Cool Hand Luke looks like being atop the world of darts for many years to come.

Having checked off his two biggest career goals earlier this year, winning the World Darts Championship for the first time and moving up to world number one in the process, what now is the Englishman's main target? "When I first started in the sport it was just about winning a major," Humphries told Express Sport, in association with BetMGM. "I did that and thought, 'I want to be world champion now'. Then I did that, and started thinking about winning the triple crown, which is the world championship, the Premier League and the matchplay."

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With the Worlds already in the bag, Humphries came close to adding the Premier League title recently, reaching the final on debut before losing out in a true classic to Luke Littler. "I think my game has got to the point now where I do think I can win a lot more, to be honest," Humphries continues confidently. "I've won four majors, a realistic goal would be 20 to 25 majors by the time I've finished my career. That's still quite an incredible amount of major titles to win, but I believe I could win 20 if I'm around for another 15 or 20 years."

Although he isn't thinking about retirement any time soon, Humphries also doesn't want to do this forever. The constant travelling and time spent away from family can be gruelling for a top darter and for a family man like Humphries, that does bring struggles.

"For me, I hope I'm not playing darts professionally in 20 years because it's a busy sport, you're playing all the time," Humphries explains of his plans for the future. "I'm thinking I'll retire by 50 at the most, hopefully with three or four world titles. But it's not easy to do."

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Humphries took his first World Championship title at the Ally Pally in January