Humphries edges Littler in final-leg thriller to retain US Darts Masters crown

[p]The victory made [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/humphries-luke/n34VOAWo/"]Humphries[/a] the first player to win the tournament in consecutive years, as he overcame the world No. 1 in another high-quality chapter of their growing rivalry.[/p][p]Humphries made the stronger start, racing into a 4-1 lead, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/littler-luke/0URN6Xks/"]Littler[/a] responded with four straight legs to move in front.[/p][p]Humphries, however, halted the momentum by levelling at 5-5 before producing an 11-dart decider to seal an 8-7 victory with a 104 average.[/p][image alt="Humphries with the trophy" id="e1e1e34e-e44b-4148-b317-e1280547a3de" credit-line="Tom Horak / PDC" guid="15d116ef-8ad7-4f7a-80a3-56aa84a6a886" original-width="2000" original-height="1333" /][p][b]“This is the most iconic venue I think darts will ever go to,”[/b] Humphries said after lifting his third World Series title.[/p][p][b]“Every year we come here, it gets better and better, and the fans have been absolutely amazing. It’s been insane.[/b][/p][p][b]“It’s great to go back-to-back. I’m always out to set records and do things that not many players have done.[/b][/p][p][b]“Me and Luke always have fantastic games, and it’s just another brilliant game in the saga of Luke v Luke.[/b][/p][p][b]“I feel if I can keep performing like this, then I can keep pushing him, because he’s unbelievable. He’s the toughest player in the world to beat.”[/b][/p][p]Humphries had earlier come through a pair of testing matches to reach the final. He beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bunting-stephen/xANKMtPG/"]Stephen Bunting[/a] before recovering from 6-3 down against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-veen-gian/jgT1AT29/"]Gian van Veen[/a], surviving two match darts on the way.[/p][p]Littler booked his spot in his first US Darts Masters final with victories over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/long-jim/ENiPRh9J/"]Jim Long[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wade-james/MRrXjBAB/"]James Wade[/a]. The 19-year-old hit nine 180s in the final and looked set to complete the turnaround before Humphries found another gear in the closing stages.[/p][image alt="Humphries and Littler" id="a0d2da81-dfbd-4ba7-a4c1-6069238dadb2" credit-line="Tom Horak / PDC" guid="61960215-0983-4c05-9622-1ec3c88cc1f7" original-width="2000" original-height="1333" /][p][b]“It was an unbelievable experience,”[/b] Littler said after the final.[/p][p][b]“There were a lot of England fans here who are going to the (FIFA World Cup) game, so I appreciate them coming along.[/b][/p][p][b]“As the night went on, they got louder and louder, and I wish I was in the crowd with them to be fair.”[/b][/p][p]Earlier, Wade defeated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/price-gerwyn/8dDDoW0B/"]Gerwyn Price[/a] to reach the semi-finals, while Van Veen averaged more than 106 in a 6-3 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clayton-jonny/tx0y2xRD/"]Jonny Clayton[/a].[/p][h2]Results[/h2][p][b]Quarter-finals[/b][/p][p]Luke Littler 6-1 Jim Long[/p][p]James Wade 6-3 Gerwyn Price[/p][p]Luke Humphries 6-3 Stephen Bunting[/p][p]Gian van Veen 6-3 Jonny Clayton[/p][p][b]Semi-finals[/b][/p][p]Luke Littler 7-4 James Wade[/p][p]Luke Humphries 7-6 Gian van Veen[/p][p][b]Final[/b][/p][p]Luke Humphries 8-7 Luke Littler[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/darts/usa/us-darts-masters/"]Catch up on the US Darts Masters with Flashscore[/a][/h2]