"It just felt like the world was waiting for Luke to overtake me": Luke Humphries laments constant Littler World No.1 procession narrative

Luke Humphries has had an impressive darts year, but admits that his nearly two-year reign as world number one was accompanied by tremendous pressure. According to the 30-year-old Englishman, the spotlight last season was less on him and much more on teenage sensation Luke Littler, who eventually managed to take over his position.

Humphries, who spent more than 680 days at the top of the world rankings, lost his number-one position to Littler at the Grand Slam of Darts. There, moreover, he went down 16-11 in the final. Although that loss hurt, the reigning 2024 world champion says he gets his motivation from that very setback. With the World Championship coming up, he has set his sights on revenge, another world title and a remarkable reward for himself: a brand new Lamborghini Urus worth over two tons.

In a candid interview with talkSPORT, Humphries looks back on a year in which he reached five major finals, won the Premier League Darts and also added the World Masters to his record. Yet he noticed that the attention was not focused on his achievements. “It just felt like the world was waiting for Luke to overtake me. There were no things about how I could stay at world No1. It was all about how Luke could get to world No1."

“There were no graphs out there from the media saying ‘this is what Luke needs to do to stay at world No1."

According to Humphries, this sometimes caused him to be dismissed as a supporting player, while he himself was one of the most consistent players of the season.

“I felt like: why aren’t I getting that chance to be like ‘this is what I need to do to stay’? So, I showed a lot of bottle, to be honest. I made three finals, I defended as best as I could, but obviously when you are against Luke he is a tough player to beat.

Yet he looks without rancor at the achievements of Littler, who has already reached several major finals at the age of 18 and has had an unprecedented impact on the darts world. “If we are going on fairness over the last two years, I think he has definitely been the No1 player.”

Humphries opens his World Championship campaign against Ted Evetts, and according to 'Cool Hand', his game is at an excellent stage. His 2024 world title - in which he beat Littler in a spectacular final - gives extra confidence.

“I feel like my game is in such a good place. I feel more confident and I feel like I am going to start winning things. I’ve enjoyed the last couple of years and everything that has come with it. I’m just ready to push my career on and win more titles.

An interesting side note is that Humphries is working on a modified throwing technique. The modification would give him more stability and rhythm, something that should make him even stronger in the long run. “I’m fully focused, and whatever happens in this Worlds, going into next year I am going to work on this new throw that I have adapted, and that seems to be working really well.

“I just want to try and smash it and win as much as I can to try and put Luke under pressure for that world No1 spot.”

Should Humphries walk away with the Sid Waddell Trophy again at the World Championships at Alexandra Palace, there will be an extra reward waiting for him. After all, the winner of the World Championship will receive no less than one million pounds, and Humphries knows exactly what he wants to do with it. “The hard thing is when the money hits your account you can’t just rip it all out," he joked. “Lamborghini Urus, the new one, is going to be the one."

The Englishman is already fantasizing about how he would celebrate his title: “To celebrate I would put the trophy on top of the car, we need some heavy-duty tape!”