World Darts Championship: Luke Humphries praises Alexandra Palace crowd after opening night atmosphere: ‘They made me feel amazing’ | Darts news
Luke Humphries knows there is a long way to go at the World Darts Championships, but he enjoyed a spectacular opening night at Alexandra Palace with a comprehensive win, a great atmosphere and a walk to remember.
Humphries enjoyed the atmosphere as he was announced as the defending champion on the opening night at Alexandra Palace, leading the crowd as they sang their away anthem ‘I predict a mot’.
While not quite a ‘Cool Hand’ era performance, the world No.1 made it nine games in a row in a comprehensive 3-0 win to move swiftly and safely into the third round after Christmas.
Humphries gave an honest assessment of his win, admitting it wasn’t very “clinical”, but praised the crowd as one of the most special he’s ever been involved with.
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Luke Humphries gets a 160 finish as he looks for the win against Thibault Tricole.
“It wasn’t my best performance,” Humphries said. “I didn’t feel very clinical at times. I’ll be honest, after the walk I was taken back a bit because the crowd was so amazing.
“This was honestly one of the best crowds I’ve ever been in a room with. They should all be so proud of themselves. They made me feel amazing and I don’t get that very often, so it was really nice.
“It wasn’t the best, but I said in a lot of interviews before that it’s two different tournaments. Now, you go into the second half of the tournaments and you come back after Christmas and you really think about being world champion.”
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Humphries will now face either Raymond van Barneveld, Nick Kenny or Stowe Buntz in the third round and while he is not trying to put too much pressure on himself, he is aware that becoming back-to-back world champions would be the perfect way to go to finish a very strong year.
“I’m incredibly proud of the last 12 months, for me it’s been one of the best years for a world champion since Michael van Gerwen won it,” he added.
“Even if I don’t win again, I’ll be proud of the year I’m having, but it would be a great way to end it if I could become back-to-back world champions. But I’ve got five games to go. .”
Webster: Humphries enjoyed the opening win
For Darts Sky Sports Mark Webster, Humphries has the “perfect night” as the reigning and defending champion, combining a sure win with enjoying himself on the big stage.
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Luke Humphries says rival Luke Littler is pushing him to improve as he looks back on a stellar 2024.
“Tricole will be disappointed because he allowed Humphries to get away in the first couple of legs. But from there, Luke was just enjoying himself,” Webster said.
“When he spoke to us earlier, he said he wouldn’t feel the pressure to perform. It was all about winning, getting to that Christmas break.
“He has, and now he has plenty of time. This is the perfect night. No drooping legs and he can’t complain. He seemed to really like it.”
what happens next
We’ve got a big day of action on Monday 16th December with the afternoon session starting at 12.30pm on Sky Sports Darts and Main Event with Wesley Plaisier v Ryusei Azemoto, Luke Woodhouse v Lourence Ilagan, Alan Soutar v Kai Gotthardt and James. Wade playing the winner of Wattimena and Bellmont.
We’re back from 7pm for a great evening session with Niels Zonneveld v Robert Owen, Connor Scutt v Ben Robb, Cameron Menzies v Leonard Gates and Gerwyn Price v Huybrechts and Barry winner.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch all the matches live exclusively from 15 December to 3 January on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sports with ARA.
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