World champion Luke Humphries responds as Rishi Sunak jumps on darts bandwagon

04 January 2024 , 08:45

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World champion Luke Humphries responds as Rishi Sunak jumps on darts bandwagon

World Darts Championship winner Luke Humphries has responded to Rishi Sunak after the Prime Minister said he and Luke Littler will be "leading the sport for years to come".

Humphries, 28, claimed his first-ever Ally Pally title after fending off Littler, 16, 7-4 in an mouth-watering battle on Wednesday evening. 'Cool Hand' who moved into world No.1 ahead of the final, continued his impressive winning streak following victories in the Grand Slam and Grand Prix.

After the final, Prime Minister Sunak took to Twitter to congratulate Humphries on his success. "Congratulations Luke, a great win tonight," he said. "What an incredible final to end a historic championship. I know that @lukeh180 and @LukeTheNuke180 will be leading the sport for years to come."

Humphries then thanked Sunak for his message, saying it's a "truly amazing feeling" after beating Littler to claim another major title. Cool Hand Luke had never gone beyond the quarter-final in the World Darts Championship in his six previous attempts, but he managed to overcome Ricardo Pietreczko, Joe Cullen, Dave Chisnall, Scott Williams and Littler to go all the way this time around.

"Thank you @RishiSunak - to be part of the event and to win the World Championship," Humphries replied. "It is hard to put into words how I feel at this moment, but a truly amazing feeling which I shall never forget and the unbelievable support I have received will stay with me forever."

Out of touch Rishi Sunak doesn't regularly read papers or online news sites

Humphries started the match in spectacular fashion and won the first set to put Littler on the back foot. However, the teenage sensation found his mojo to draw level. Humphries went back in front, before Littler won the next three sets to storm into a 4-2 lead.

Luke Humphries lifted the World Darts Championship title on Wednesday (Getty Images)

With the seventh set tied at two apiece, Littler missed a crucial dart at double two to go 5-2 up and Humphries punished his teenage opponent by winning that set and the next four to run away with a 7-4 victory. Speaking immediately after the match, Humphries told Sky Sports: "Luke showed incredible grit, incredible determination.

"We will never, ever see the likes of him again. To go up on that stage in a world final and produce those darts. I was putting him under so much pressure. I love the kid to bits and I hope that he's in the Premier League and plays in everything because I would love the share the stage with him a lot more.

"I've just achieved something that is a dream for darts player, so I'm really, really pleased. Obviously the crowd wanted Luke to win and I couldn't begrudge them that because it would have been a fantastic story had he won the tournament. What an incredible story would that have been for our sport."

Kieran King