Luke Humphries is confident he can topple Luke Littler at the World Championships despite falling to another defeat against the new World No1 in the final of the Grand Slam of Darts.
Earlier in the day, Littler reached the Grand Slam final with a victory over Danny Noppert, a result that also saw him overtake Humphries at the top of the world rankings, regardless of the result in the final later on.
But ‘The Nuke’ underscored his status as the new world number one with an impressive 16-11 victory over Humphries in the final to retain his Grand Slam title and win his eighth major in less than two seasons as a professional.
While the final ebbed and flowed in the early stages, it was Littler who began to assert his control on the final as the match progressed.
And after Humphries made a meal of a regulation 25 checkout, Littler made him pay, taking out 160 in superb style to move 11-9 up and take charge of the contest.
From there, the 18-year-old won five of the next seven legs to win the match, checking out 96 with a double nine to keep hold of the Eric Bristow trophy.
‘I’ve got to say it was a tough job getting up this morning,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘No one likes playing in the afternoon but you have to get through it. Once I got over the line, I knew I was number one.
‘Luke played amazingly. It was a weird game. Glad to go back-to-back. We’re never going to run away with anything. Do the hard work up until the final but then relax and let them go.
‘The 160 to go in the break at 11-9. I was gone first six darts of that leg. He tried to hit the 170 and he said ‘that’s what happens when you try and hit it’.’
Humphries, meanwhile, was quick to take the positives from his second major final defeat to Littler in as many months, but vowed to return with a vengeance at Alexandra Palace next month.
‘I am really proud. It is three finals on the trot I’ve lost. I’m ready for the Worlds now. I am going to win the World’s,’ a confident Humphries said.
‘I am declaring war on him. I’m playing good. Tiredness just crept in at the end there. We’re going to go to war at the World Championships, we’ll see who is the one there.
‘I said to him he deserves everything he gets. He’s a massive advocate for darts. I’ve never really felt like world number one, I’ve never felt like I’ve got the attention I deserve. He’s such an incredible player.’
In the previous three years, the Grand Slam champion has gone on to win the World Championship later that year, but Littler insisted he is not paying too much attention to the history books, perhaps wisely, given he has already rewritten many of them in his rapid ascent to the top of the sport.
‘Everyone is going to battle for it and me and Luke will,’ Littler said, previewing the tournament. ‘Everyone is looking at the million pounds.
‘Luke wants to get the title back and I want to go back-to-back. We don’t even look at the money. These titles don’t come around often.
‘People look back on the history and see the Grand Slam, the Players and then the Worlds.
‘You can’t go off that and expect someone to win the Worlds. It’s not that easy. We go to Minehead next week and see what happens there.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.