As we look ahead to tomorrow night's Play-Offs at London's O2, here's a throwback to last year's final.... Michael van Gerwen celebrated a record-breaking seventh Premier League crown 12 months ago - can he make it eight tomorrow night? 🏆
"That statistic says nothing, people underestimate how good he is" - Luke Humphries already won six matches in a row against Michael van Gerwen
PDCThursday, 23 May 2024 at 08:00
Luke Humphries will hunt for a first final victory in Premier League Darts tonight. 'Cool Hand Luke' will take on defending champion Michael van Gerwen in the semifinals of the playoffs.
Humphries finished second in the regular stage of Premier League Darts. Van Gerwen finished third and is having a somewhat tougher year for now. "An easy draw because I'm playing against Michael? Absolutely not," Humphries said to AD.nl.
"He has already won this tournament seven times so he remains the guy to beat. Even though he played a little bit less the last few weeks ... he has all this experience in his locker. Last year he also came here after a poor phase, played absolutely great and won. I'm sure we'll see a very different Van Gerwen tomorrow."
flnr the four participants in the playoffs: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith
Nothing statistics
Humphries may well be heading into the clash with Van Gerwen with confidence, after all, he managed to win all of the last six matches against the Dutchman. "That doesn't say anything at all," Humphries said. "Michael is so strong mentally, that statistic doesn't affect him at all. People underestimate him tremendously, they don't understand all the records he has broken."
Van Gerwen indicated earlier that he does not see Luke Littler, but rather Humphries, as his biggest rival for the title. "If I were to pick one biggest rival for me, it would also be Michael. We know each other well, have a good relationship and enjoy playing against each other. But we put that friendship aside for a while tomorrow."
Although Humphries is reigning world champion, lately it has been more about that other Luke, Littler more specifically. "It's not about me, it's about darts," Humphries said. "I'm world champion, but that doesn't mean everyone has to talk about me. Of course everybody talks about Van Gerwen: he's a three-time world champion. Of course everybody talks about Littler: he's the most famous dart player in the world. Media think I care that it's not about me, but I want darts to get attention, and it succeeds."
Respect
The respect between Humphries and Van Gerwen appears to be mutual. "He might sometimes snow under because he's a bit of a grayer mouse, but he's a fantastic player," Van Gerwen said.
"Oleksandr Usyk (who fought Tyson Fury last week, ed.) doesn't sell tickets either, but he is the great world champion in boxing. Luke is not a talker, but he manages to do it all the time. That's clever."
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