"If I don’t then he will just walk away with it": Luke Humphries vows to work harder in bid to stop Luke Littler

Luke Humphries fell short of his second World Grand Prix title Sunday night in Leicester. In the final, the current world number one had to take on new darts phenomenon Luke Littler, whose impressive precision and coolness won the match. Despite the disappointment, Humphries showed himself a sporting loser afterwards, full of praise for his young rival.

For Humphries, it was his third consecutive final at the World Grand Prix - a feat that puts him in the illustrious ranks of Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, the only other players to accomplish that before. The Englishman had beaten successively Nathan Aspinall, Krzysztof Ratajski, Cameron Menzies and Danny Noppert on his way to the final, but in the final, Littler proved a size too big.

The defeat did not stop Humphries from looking back realistically and respectfully. “It is hard to take, it is disappointing. Luke is so clinical," he said.

Humphries particularly pointed to his problems with the double-start format, which makes the World Grand Prix tournament unique. “In the first four sets, I missed so many darts to get in – double 16 was my friend for the last three years and tonight it wasn’t."

The 29-year-old indicated that those missed opportunities bothered him mentally. While Littler found his rhythm from the start, Humphries kept looking for stability. "Luke is amazing, he’s so good. I tried my best there but he ran away with it in the end and his class shone through."

The duel between the two Lukes could have been seen by many as a titanic battle between the old and new generation - but Littler left no room for doubt. With an average well above 95 and some decisive finishes at the right moments, the 18-year-old sensation dominated the final and convincingly crowned himself champion.

Despite the pain of defeat, Humphries spoke with admiration of his opponent. “I’ll be back. I’ve got many more battles with him in the future that I need to be better for – but he is amazing so fair play."

Humphries, who finishes the tournament with prize money of £60,000, remains optimistic about his future. His words made it clear that the defeat serves as motivation rather than a setback. "I have to just get better, I have to practice harder and if I don’t then he will just walk away with it every time.

“I have to go home and dedicate everything to being a dart player and work harder than I ever have, because I want to match him.”

The final between Humphries and Littler appears to be the beginning of a new rivalry at the top of world darts. Humphries, who took the world title in 2024 and has been the world number one ever since, faced a challenging opponent in Littler who is already shaking up the sport at a young age. The duels between the two promise to be the scene of some of the biggest darts battles on the PDC circuit in the coming years.

With his humble attitude and honest self-reflection, Humphries reaffirmed why he is so respected within the darts world. The defeat in Leicester may have been painful, but his determination to return seems stronger than ever. And if one thing is certain, it is that Luke Humphries has no intention of standing still - on the contrary, he intends to take the fight to the full against Luke Littler.