"When I was the World Number 1, I beat Luke in the Worlds, everyone hated me for no reason": From detraction to support as Luke Humphries feels the love again

Luke Humphries will face Gerwyn Price in the final of the World Grand Prix on Sunday night after taking down James Wade. Humphries fended off Wade 5-3.

He becomes the first player to reach four consecutive finals. A point he made in his press conference that not even Phil Taylor had: now he will aim for major glory again.

Given the history-making evening and really good performance, he summed up that estimation.

"Yeah, to be fair, I thought it was at that level. I think the average what you see was like, "I don't think it really fluctuated; it wasn't really going high and then low and then coming back," said Humphries to the media, including DartsNews.com.

"I felt like it was sort of at that level the whole time, and I felt like it was a real solid performance. I didn't feel like I played at my absolute best, but I felt like I played really well. I'm not going to sit here and say I didn't play well.

"I felt like I did play well. There are a couple of legs there where my doubling in maybe wasn't as good, but that can kill your average. So, I felt like I'll take a lot from that performance, and the starting was again fantastic, and I hope the trend doesn't continue.

"I hope it doesn't go bad, good, bad, good and then bad again. I hope I can rectify that tomorrow and produce the level I did tonight because if I do, I think it'll be an amazing final."

Wade hit a beautiful 141 early in the piece, and Humphries said to himself not again when it went in. "He is, and that which you see on my face is like against me again. It kills you, but I think when you're playing a first-to-five-set game, you can't be too disappointed in the moments because it's so early on in the game.

"If you let those things destroy you, then you're never going to win these big games. So, I knew when I went into the game from the start, I thought, 'Just relax and don't let anything bother you.' If you're 3-1 down or whatever these types of scenarios are, you've still got a chance because I know I can come back.

"But luckily for me in those moments, I was kind of on it and a couple of doubles; that double 12 really haunted me a little bit. It was nice to do it at 78. I think it was in the last set.

"Clean that up when you've left a good shot and really put right them demons because that double 12 is the one that really does kill me a lot. So many times I've missed that double, and it's killed me. I think my doubling out was pretty decent. My scoring was a bit better, which is what I said if I put them both together, then it'd be a good performance."

He also doesn't put scope into when he faces Price in their previous meetings. "I don't think he's going to be thinking about it. I'm certainly not going to be thinking about it. I think he's a different player now than he was 12 months ago, to be fair. But I feel like, maybe I'm a little bit; I feel like this year's been decent, just not getting the results like I wanted them to."

For Humphries, though, he said that in reality he expected to be favourite in every game, admitting that his previous tag as underdog in finals before doesn't pay any mind. " I mean, not really. Probably would have been expected to win every game I've played to be fair.

"I think against Chizz (Chisnall) I probably would have been expected to win; against Jermaine (Wattimena) I'd have been expected to win; against Niels (Zonneveld), I'd have been expected to win and probably would have, even though James has been playing better than me, I probably would have been expected to win. So that would be the same tomorrow. I don't think that will affect me a lot.

"I don't think that for me that will play on my mind. You know, it won't be that much in it, to be fair. I don't think you can, anybody can, you know, stand there and go, 'Well, he's definitely going to beat Gezzy, or Gezzy's definitely going to beat Luke.'

"It's kind of a good final because no one really knows what can happen. It all depends on how the start goes. So yeah, I don't think that will play on my mind too much to be fair."

A fan was pointed out by Wade and thrown out, and Humphries joked that while he was supposedly supporting him, he played poorly when he left, so he wished he would've stayed.

"No, it was someone who was trying to support me, I think. I mean, maybe he got a little bit; he wasn't shouting when James was throwing. Maybe he just got a little bit overzealous and started; he was just sort of trying to get me motivated, I think. Not when he was throwing, but I think it just annoyed James a little bit, and he just had enough of it.

"He just wanted to get the game going. I don't think he was doing too much wrong, but yeah, if it bothers the player, I'm not going to sit there and try and like get too fast into it. I'm there trying to focus on the game, and he said, 'I'm sorry, mate.'

"I was like, don't apologise. If you need to ask someone to go, you know, fair enough, it doesn't bother me. So, it didn't really affect me. I think from that set where we played, we both played well; he just played really well in there, and I was like, 'Bring that play back because he started playing well.' But yeah, he didn't do too much wrong, to be fair to the guy. I just think he was a little bit overzealous, trying to support me, and James didn't like it, and yeah, whatever he wants to do, you can do; it's up to him."

Speaking of the support from the crowd, it is a far cry, he admits, from being hated at junctures when Littler was on the cusp of dominating.

"Yeah, I mean, there's a bit more support for me. I think a lot of people respect the way I deal with everything. I feel like all the scrutiny that's been put on me, all the times of Luke being the bigger name when I was the world number one, I always dealt with it well because I am just that kind of person.

"I always take defeat really well most of the time, and it doesn't bother me. I'm here to try and win major tournaments and enjoy myself and achieve all my dreams. I'm not thinking about everything or what people think and all these types of things.

"I have noticed a lot more support for myself. I have noticed it a lot, and honestly, it overwhelms me because I really appreciate it in the crowd. I get a lot of support, so it is really nice for me, and it does make me feel better and good about myself.

"Of course, it's hard when you're not getting it, and people hate you all of a sudden for no reason because I get what? When I was the world number one, I beat Luke in the Worlds, and everyone hated me for no reason. It was a tough time, but of course, I bounced back from that, and I'm getting a lot of great support now, and it's so appreciated."