Heartbreak again and ecstasy are feelings that come to mind as Stephen Bunting lost a third straight Players Championship final of the week as Luke Humphries returned to the winners circle to conclude the latest triple header.
Bunting has lost all three finals this week to Wessel Nijman, Chris Dobey and now Humphries. A man on a mission and a man on form, but not getting over the winning line. Albeit he produced an epic comeback to force the issue and force Humphries into some of his best darts.
Bunting came from 6-4 down to reel off two quick legs to bring himself parity. He put himself in the ascendancy with six darts at 72 throwing for a 7-6 lead.
He got just that as Humphries was having to throw to stay in the final. Humphries had six at 170. He got down to 83. He pinned just that to send it all the way.
One leg stood between the title for either player with Bunting having the throw. Humphries hit a third maximum to give himself the impetus. He hit 81 for a 12-darter and roared as he sealed the win.
Final
Luke Humphries (93.84) 8 | 7 (96.92) Stephen Bunting
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries (98.79) 7 | 6 (95.84) Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting (100.51) 7 | 6 (96.92) Raymond van Barneveld
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries (97.61) 6 | 5 (101.71) Dave Chisnall
Luke Woodhouse (91.53) 6 | 3 (94.86) Christian Kist
Raymond van Barneveld (92.43) 6 | 5 (94.12) Danny Noppert
Stephen Bunting (101.81) 6 | 4 (97.06) Robert Owen
Last 16
Dave Chisnall (98.89) 6 | 5 (88.06) Ritchie Edhouse
Luke Humphries (99.68) 6 | 2 (99.19) Josh Rock
Christian Kist (99.11) 6 | 4 (94.31) Daryl Gurney
Luke Woodhouse (92.43) 6 | 4 (95.98) Wessel Nijman
Raymond van Barneveld (104.36) 6 | 2 (101.78) Luke Littler
Danny Noppert (103.05) 6 | 5 (104.15) Damon Heta
Robert Owen (96.31) 6 | 1 (82.16) Rowby-John Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting (105.82) 6 | 4 (93.67) Radek Szaganski
Last 32
Dave Chisnall (101.02) 6 | 5 (98.09) Kim Huybrechts
Ritchie Edhouse (102.10) 6 | 3 (93.10) Michael Smith
Josh Rock (93.67) 6 | 3 (82.88) Brendan Dolan
Luke Humphries (95.22) 6 | 4 (91.38) Connor Scutt
Christian Kist (87.58) 6 | 4 (81.48) Martijn Dragt
Daryl Gurney (100.60) 6 | 5 (96.86) Ryan Joyce
Luke Woodhouse (91.49) 6 | 5 (94.96) Andy Boulton
Wessel Nijman (100.53) 6 | 4 (102.55) Rob Cross
Luke Littler (100.15) 6 | 5 (88.19) Jamie Hughes
Raymond van Barneveld (99.10) 6 | 0 (82.72) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Damon Heta (98.23) 6 | 3 (100.35) Jermaine Wattimena
Danny Noppert (97.31) 6 | 3 (88.98) Jitse Van der Wal
Robert Owen (94.60) 6 | 4 (97.53) Martin Lukeman
Rowby-John Rodriguez (76.66) 6 | 4 (83.65) Mike De Decker
Stephen Bunting (103.55) 6 | 1 (85.69) Josh Payne
Radek Szaganski (93.49) 6 | 5 (91.18) Lukas Wenig
Last 64
Kim Huybrechts (97.74) 6 | 4 (90.79) Ian White
Dave Chisnall (94.18) 6 | 3 (81.83) Thibault Tricole
Michael Smith (101.42) 6 | 1 (93.34) Dominik Gruellich
Ritchie Edhouse (92.51) 6 | 3 (84.70) Lee Cocks
Brendan Dolan (95.29) 6 | 4 (84.53) Rhys Griffin
Josh Rock (83.04) 6 | 4 (83.37) Danny Jansen
Connor Scutt (98.69) 6 | 2 (97.68) Gabriel Clemens
Luke Humphries (103.01) 6 | 5 (102.53) Callum Goffin
Christian Kist (90.66) 6 | 3 (88.84) Nathan Rafferty
Martijn Dragt (93.05) 6 | 3 (94.13) Chris Dobey
Ryan Joyce (91.60) 6 | 2 (90.50) Matthew Dennant
Daryl Gurney (91.02) 6 | 5 (85.56) Tim Wolters
Luke Woodhouse (105.55) 6 | 3 (99.71) Ryan Meikle
Andy Boulton (95.96) 6 | 4 (95.26) Ryan Searle
Wessel Nijman (95.80) 6 | 3 (90.71) Keane Barry
Rob Cross (101.38) 6 | 1 (98.97) Dom Taylor
Jamie Hughes (89.45) 6 | 4 (81.07) Kevin Doets
Luke Littler (94.42) 6 | 3 (89.33) James Hurrell
Jeffrey De Zwaan (90.36) 6 | 4 (83.42) Scott Williams
Raymond van Barneveld (105.78) 6 | 1 (81.23) Mensur Suljovic
Jermaine Wattimena (109.98) 6 | 0 (87.73) Robert Grundy
Damon Heta (98.75) 6 | 5 (100.24) Nathan Aspinall
Jitse Van der Wal (87.53) 6 | 4 (89.90) Dylan Slevin
Danny Noppert (92.24) 6 | 2 (75.20) Geert Nentjes
Martin Lukeman (89.66) 6 | 1 (78.77) Nick Kenny
Robert Owen (91.01) 6 | 5 (99.09) Florian Hempel
Mike De Decker (110.65) 6 | 2 (88.95) Mario Vandenbogaerde
Rowby-John Rodriguez (85.89) 6 | 0 (87.45) Ricardo Pietreczko
Josh Payne (91.26) 6 | 2 (86.12) Lee Evans
Stephen Bunting (89.81) 6 | 4 (89.77) Stefan Bellmont
Radek Szaganski (86.03) 6 | 4 (90.29) Stephen Burton
Lukas Wenig (96.10) 6 | 4 (89.47) Benjamin Reus
Last 128
Ian White (91.39) 6 | 3 (87.44) Dimitri Van den Bergh
Kim Huybrechts (101.34) 6 | 3 (92.45) Jimmy van Schie
Dave Chisnall (104.03) 6 | 5 (97.25) Chris Landman
Thibault Tricole (89.33) 6 | 3 (92.89) Mervyn King
Michael Smith (100.26) 6 | 2 (91.66) Patrick Geeraets
Dominik Gruellich (91.76) 6 | 1 (80.04) Jelle Klaasen
Ritchie Edhouse (120.24) 6 | 0 (105.46) Graham Hall
Lee Cocks (89.08) 6 | 3 (93.09) Maik Kuivenhoven
Brendan Dolan (87.79) 6 | 2 (86.20) Mickey Mansell
Rhys Griffin (90.09) 6 | 2 (90.56) Jeffrey De Graaf
Josh Rock (96.97) 6 | 2 (92.53) Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Jansen (86.67) 6 | 2 (86.79) Graham Usher
Gabriel Clemens (104.47) 6 | 2 (97.46) Andy Baetens
Connor Scutt (105.24) 6 | 4 (94.77) Adam Hunt
Luke Humphries (100.20) 6 | 0 (88.61) George Killington
Callum Goffin (92.74) 6 | 5 (97.77) Ricky Evans
Nathan Rafferty (89.18) 6 | 3 (84.55) Alan Soutar
Christian Kist (85.69) 6 | 4 (81.19) Darren Beveridge
Chris Dobey (90.04) 6 | 3 (88.17) Keegan Brown
Martijn Dragt (92.28) 6 | 1 (86.47) Steve Lennon
Ryan Joyce (90.50) 6 | 3 (88.56) Simon Whitlock
Matthew Dennant (91.70) 6 | 3 (82.77) Boris Krcmar
Daryl Gurney (93.57) 6 | 1 (79.59) William Borland
Tim Wolters (84.07) 6 | 1 (78.81) Owen Bates
Luke Woodhouse (93.99) 6 | 5 (88.23) Adam Gawlas
Ryan Meikle (83.71) 6 | 3 (89.17) Reece Colley
Ryan Searle (98.02) 6 | 0 (75.33) Jurjen van der Velde
Andy Boulton (92.88) 6 | 2 (87.00) Stefaan Henderyck
Wessel Nijman (104.76) 6 | 2 (97.64) Jose De Sousa
Keane Barry (88.55) 6 | 3 (83.08) Steve Beaton
Rob Cross (105.15) 6 | 1 (89.23) Karel Sedlacek
Dom Taylor (96.65) 6 | 3 (96.09) Robbie Knops
Kevin Doets (91.54) 6 | 5 (95.03) Madars Razma
Jamie Hughes (86.21) 6 | 4 (87.42) Daniel Klose
Luke Littler (91.85) 6 | 4 (94.18) Danny Lauby
James Hurrell (98.15) 6 | 4 (100.22) Darryl Pilgrim
Scott Williams (102.42) 6 | 2 (89.46) Cameron Menzies
Jeffrey De Zwaan (78.64) 6 | 3 (78.53) Jules van Dongen
Raymond van Barneveld (92.97) 6 | 0 (78.56) William O'Connor
Mensur Suljovic (88.09) 6 | 3 (79.64) Danny van Trijp
Jermaine Wattimena (104.81) 6 | 2 (97.30) Adam Warner
Robert Grundy (86.01) 6 | 5 (83.74) Justin Hood
Damon Heta (98.42) 6 | 4 (97.26) Wesley Plaisier
Nathan Aspinall (99.79) 6 | 4 (95.79) Alexander Merkx
Jitse Van der Wal (91.90) 6 | 2 (88.49) Andrew Gilding
Dylan Slevin (89.73) 6 | 5 (89.05) Niels Zonneveld
Danny Noppert (107.81) 6 | 2 (97.26) Richard Veenstra
Geert Nentjes (85.55) 6 | 5 (84.17) Jeffrey Sparidaans
Martin Lukeman (96.37) 6 | 5 (91.90) Arron Monk
Nick Kenny (86.18) 6 | 3 (84.30) David Evans
Robert Owen (94.15) 6 | 3 (90.24) Ross Smith
Florian Hempel (92.15) 6 | 3 (80.64) Rene Eidams
Mike De Decker (93.00) 6 | 3 (87.11) Vincent van der Voort
Mario Vandenbogaerde (99.03) 6 | 1 (93.12) Brett Claydon
Ricardo Pietreczko (93.09) 6 | 3 (86.57) Berry van Peer
Rowby-John Rodriguez (82.29) 6 | 2 (75.26) Christian Perez
Lee Evans (102.69) 6 | 2 (101.54) Dirk van Duijvenbode
Josh Payne (83.65) 6 | 2 (81.78) Owen Roelofs
Stephen Bunting (91.26) 6 | 1 (77.52) Joshua Richardson
Stefan Bellmont (95.47) 6 | 5 (91.32) Matt Campbell
Stephen Burton (83.57) 6 | 1 (84.88) Joe Cullen
Radek Szaganski (91.12) 6 | 4 (90.00) Cam Crabtree
Lukas Wenig (97.70) 6 | 2 (95.08) Gian van Veen
Benjamin Reus (88.39) 6 | 5 (93.89) Richie Burnett