8:55 p.m
Humphries route to the final
Luke Humphries only entered the tournament as a seeded player in the second round. He easily defeated his compatriot Lee Evans 3-0. He really had a lot of trouble with the German Ricardo Pietreczko in the 4:3 draw in the third round. That day he also got into a fight with the German fans in the Ally Pally, who were of course on the side of “Pikachu” and tried to throw Humphries off his game with whistles. A similarly exciting game with the same outcome followed for “Cool Hand Luke” in the round of 16 against Joe Cullen, another of the many good Englishmen. Another one was waiting in the quarter-finals – Dave Chisnall. “Chizzy” has big problems getting close to his best form and lost by a score of 1:5. Scott Williams was really beaten up in the semi-finals. The self-confident Englishman’s high shots and big finishes just follow around his ears. Humphries won 6-0 and booked his ticket to tonight’s final. His averages for the tournament so far: just over 95 points per shot and a hit rate on doubles of 36 percent.
8:45 p.m
Littler’s route to the final
Luke Littler won 3-0 against Dutchman Christian Kist in the first round. He beat Andrew Gilding of England 3-1 in the second and Canadian Matt Campbell 4-1 in the third. In the round of 16 he got the upper hand against his great idol, the Dutch veteran Raymond van Barneveld, and confidently won 4-1. He beat Northern Irishman Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the round of the last eight. He had to accept two set losses against Rob Cross in the semi-finals – he will be able to get over it, as he grabbed six of them himself and is now here today. He has impressed in the tournament so far with an average of almost one hundred points and a checkout rate of 43 percent.
8:37 p.m
The new world number one
Luke Humphries dominated the second half of the 2023 season and won several Mayor titles. He went into this tournament as one of the big favorites and was able to improve from round to round. By reaching the final, he not only secured around 230,000 euros, but was also able to conquer the place at the top of the Order of Merit, the PDC world rankings, and displace Michael van Gerwen from there. He is a quieter representative of his craft and tends to let the spectacular litters and excellent results speak for themselves. Because of his recent successes, the experts see him as a slight favorite. But what applies to Littler also applies to Humphries: neither Luke has ever played in a World Cup final. Last year, “Cold Hand Luke” lost to Stephen Bunting in the fourth round.
20:29
The wounderchild
Over the last two and a half weeks, the darts world has been able to follow the meteoric rise of a 16-year-old. The hype surrounding Luke Littler, especially in his native England, is huge. The world has learned that the boy has a girlfriend who is five years older than him, that he has always enjoyed standing at the window since he was a child, and that he had an omelette with cheese and ham for breakfast before this and every other game in this World Cup. “The Nuke” (the atomic bomb) should have already eaten the obligatory pizza by late afternoon. Fans and experts are also full of praise for the huge talent. Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen – they all expressed themselves very favorably. Littler has proven in previous rounds that the pressure doesn’t bother him much. But will he be able to do that in this final today?
8:10 p.m
Who will be world champion in 2024?
In the final of the 31st PDC World Championship, Luke Humphries and Luke Littler will face each other today at the oche of Alexandra Palace in London. The first arrows will fly onto the target of the very large stage from around 9:15 p.m. It’s about a nice trophy and a lot of money, namely around 580,000 euros for the winner of this game. We wish you good entertainment!