“Luke is one of the best to ever do it” – Luke Woodhouse ranks Luke Humphries among darts’ all-time greats

Over the past few months, Luke Woodhouse has increasingly found himself involved in high-profile matches. The Englishman, long a familiar presence on the PDC Tour, appears to have taken another step forward in his career.

No longer seen purely as a solid Pro Tour competitor, Woodhouse is beginning to knock on the door of the sport’s elite. His performance at the Winmau World Masters, where he came close to pulling off a shock result against Luke Humphries, only reinforced that feeling.

On the big stage of the Winmau World Masters, Woodhouse faced former world champion and former world number one Luke Humphries in the second round. Humphries even produced a nine darter during the match and threw everything at Woodhouse in an attempt to pull clear.

Still, the Nottingham player kept battling all the way. In the end, he came up just short, but the way he pushed one of the sport’s biggest names left a strong impression. “You just have to take the positives out of it,” Woodhouse said in conversation with Oche180. “You look at it and think, I pushed one of the best. In my eyes, Luke is probably one of the best to ever do it, probably in the top five or six players to ever play the game.”

“I pushed him all the way. Look, I wasn’t happy with losing that game, but to be in a game that close and push him all the way, yeah, it’s brilliant,” he added.

Although the defeat was disappointing, Woodhouse said the match ultimately reinforced his belief that he belongs on the biggest stages. “But it gives me loads of confidence going forward knowing that on the big stage, when push comes to shove, I can go toe to toe with the best players,” he explained.

The contrast with a previous meeting on the Pro Tour could hardly have been greater. Not long ago, Woodhouse found himself trailing 5–0 against Humphries despite producing a huge average.

“I mean, I played him on the Pro Tour the other week, and I was 5–0 down while averaging 111 against him,” Woodhouse said. “He’s a fantastic player, a former world number one and a former world champion.”

That performance, combined with his showing at the World Masters, appears to have boosted Woodhouse’s confidence as he looks ahead to the next phase of his career.

For years, he has often been labelled a talented player who has yet to make that final breakthrough. While he regularly reaches the latter stages of tournaments, a major title has still eluded him.

Woodhouse accepts that the subject will continue to follow him until that moment arrives. “But look, I think it’s going to be mentioned until I win one — this first title,” he said. “But I’m earning a really good living, I’m doing really well and getting deep in tournaments.”

“As long as I keep performing, I think it’s a matter of when, not if, a title comes,” he adds.

It was not only Woodhouse who recognised the quality of the performance. Humphries himself took time to offer encouraging words after the match.

“And like I say, Luke gave me some really good words after the game. He said some really nice things to me,” Woodhouse added. “So yeah, like you said, it gives me massive confidence going forward.”