Luke Humphries: World No. 2 keeps his cool to win 17 Players Championship crowns | Darts News

Luke Humphrys secured his second Players Championship title in Leicester with an 8-4 win over Jermaine Watimena.

Humphries, who recorded an astonishing tournament average of 104.74, produced a scintillating display of darts, further underlining his status as one of the game’s elite players.

The world No 2 clinched the £15,000 top prize with just 105 runs against Wattimena – his sixth ton-plus average on the day, a feat that repeated his success earlier in the year.

The Englishman fell behind early in the contest, as Watimena threw off the back foot to take a two-leg lead, with Humphries reacting quickly to spin three legs in just 37 darts to go 3-2 up in the contest.

Watimena responded with a five-visit leg of his own, before Humphries won three legs on the spin to once again extend his lead over the Dutchman.

Humphries conceded another consolation leg to Watimena, before shooting back-to-back legs at 16 and 14 darts respectively to end the competition and claim his second ProTour title of the year.

“I told my family all day it was going to be one of those days,” Humphries said.

“When it clicks for me, it clicks for me! When it does, I think people will see that I’m one of the best players in the world.

“It sets a standard for myself, I can do so much more, it’s up to me to try and deliver more than I did!”

Humphries, who recently confirmed his place in the Premier League play-offs at The O2 Arena next week after victory in Birmingham, has reflected on his resurgent form of late.

“When I went into that game against Rhys (Griffin), I think I had about four 11-dart legs on the spin, I knew the game was there today.

“I think I thought throughout the day that I felt like I couldn’t miss, and it’s always a dangerous person when you feel like that.”

After opening his campaign with an impressive 6-3 win over Griffin, in which Humphries averaged 112.18, the world No. 2 produced three more ton-plus averages of 103, 109 and 105 against Yorick Hofkens, Justin Hood and Christian Keast respectively.

The former world champion then defeated in-form Dutchman Wessel Nijmann 6-3, before pinning his fifth ton-plus average of the day with a 7-2 victory over Danny Knoppert.

Watimina, meanwhile, started his campaign with back-to-back wins over compatriots Alexander Marcoux and Jeffrey Sparidans, before beating Stephen Barton 6-2 to advance to round four.

The 38-year-old, who finished runner-up at the Players Championship Twelve earlier this year, then defeated Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2 before facing Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals.

The Dutchman then produced the best average of the day in his semi-final clash against Kevin Deutz, winning seven of the nine legs to beat his compatriot 7-2 with an average of 111 overs.

2026 Players Championship Seventeen Results

Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Luke Humphries 6-2 Christian Kist
Rob Owen 6-2 Mike Quivenhoven
Danny Knoppert 6-3 Ryan Searle
Dirk van Duyvenbode 6-2 Ross Smith
Kevin Deutz 6-2 Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Damon Heta
Jermaine Watimena 6-2 Dimitri van den Bergh

Quarter-final
Luke Humphries 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Danny Knoppert 6-5 Rob Owen
Kevin Deutz 6-4 Dirk van Duyvenbode
Jermaine Watimena 6-3 Stephen Bunting

semi-final
Luke Humphries 7-3 Danny Knoppert
Jermaine Watimena 7-2 Kevin Deutz

the final
Luke Humphries 8-4 Jermaine Watimena

Who will win this Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and you can catch the action every Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more great games now.