22:01
51 to happiness!
“The Nuke” brings 51 points via 19 and D16 to 0 and is happy that he only needed 11 darts and certainly a lot more that he is now leading 3:2 after sets.
9:59 p.m
Three missed darts!
Littler has to clear 16 points, but he misses the double 8 three times. Shortly afterwards, Humphries exposes himself to Topps. This time Littler is there and grabs the leg.
9:57 p.m
Humphries strikes back!
Luke Humphries only needs twelve darts to equalize in this set. He also had to delete the remaining 60 points, his opponent had 98 and of course the devil can always be trusted to do that.
9:53 p.m
Next please!
The fifth set is already underway in the final of the Darts World Cup! Luke Littler was allowed to open it and does it masterfully: Russ Bray called the maximum and shortly afterwards also the leg win for the young star.
9:50 p.m
Sentence compensation!
Luke Littler wins the fourth set with a three-dart finish for 30 points remaining. We take a quick look at the statistics of the two players: Littler has an average of 99 points and a checkout rate of 47.4 percent, Humphries holds with 101 .5 points and 40.9 percent against. The two Englishmen deliver the hoped-for duel on equal terms.
9:48 p.m
Humphries shortened!
Of course, Luke Humphries doesn’t want to give up this sentence yet and grabs the leg to make it 1:2 from his perspective. Afterwards, the pressure is on the kettle again, because Littler immediately rattles a smooth 180 points into the sisal.
9:46 p.m
2:0 Littler!
Tops and finish! Taking advantage of the fact that Humphries can’t hit everything, Littler takes the second leg in this set. He hits double 20 in the first attempt.
9:44 p.m
Humphries opens set 4
Humphries opens the fourth set, but Littler is the first player in the finish area. He sees 40 points remaining on his scoreboard. He deletes it with some effort via 20, a missed throw and D10.
9:43 p.m
Humphries goes back in front!
“Cool Hand Luke” lives up to his name and wins the set. It now seems to have stabilized again after the brief period of weakness.
9:41 p.m
Compensation!
Luke Humphries faces the task of 116 points remaining and solves it brilliantly! With a single and triple 20 as well as a double 18, he achieved another high finish to equalize in set 3.
9:39 p.m
Rebreak!
The younger Englishman misses the hit on the bulls-eye and thus provides his opponent with a through ball. The latter clears 39 points remaining with three darts.
9:38 p.m
13 darts to break!
Luke Littler scores 177 points and has 40 points left. The Topps goal is there! Humphries can’t keep up in this phase and concedes the break to make it 0-2 from his point of view.
9:34 p.m
Set 3 – Game on!
Littler is allowed to open the third set and takes the leg – even though this time he also had a shot without a triple. But Humphries no longer shows the brutally strong scoring that he did a few minutes ago.
9:31 p.m
Third leg in a row to win the set!
Now the 16-year-old has found his touch, hits the triple fields regularly and also shows no nerves when it comes to the doubles. This time it is twelve darts that bring him victory in the second set. Another highlight at the end: with the triple, single and double 20 he takes 120 points off the board. Now he too can happily walk towards the break room.
9:30 p.m
Compensation in sentence 2!
Has he now arrived in this game? Littler takes 142 points out of the game and an ovation for the young man immediately sweeps through the West Hall of Alexandra Palace.
9:28 p.m
Littler shortened!
First the youngster misses a double throw, but Humphries can’t punish this and misses the double 20. So “The Nuke” gets to try again and deletes the 30 points via double 15.
9:26 p.m
Break for “Cool Hand Luke”
The older of the two Lukes continues to make short work of it here, but benefits enormously from his opponent’s many weak shots. He grabs the break and with it the fifth leg in a row.
9:23 p.m
Go on
Luke Littler stayed on stage and made a few more practice throws. Did it do anything for him? Not yet, his opponent marches on and takes the first leg of set 2 with eleven darts.
9:21 p.m
Set 1 goes to Humphries
Luke Littler also weakened in the fourth leg of this set and promptly received the reward. Humphries plays fourteen darts again with hits on the single 16 and the double 8 for 32 points remaining to finish.
9:19 p.m
Humphries wins two legs in a row!
“Cool Hand Luke” opens the next leg and confidently sets it to 0 with 14 darts. “The Nuke” can’t keep up. He’s not really into this game yet and even gets the break shortly afterwards.
9:17 p.m
Let’s go!
The youngster takes the first leg of the final. He was able to prevail in the bulling in advance and therefore had the right to the first shot.
9:05 p.m
Farewell to “The Voice” and chasing records
The darts experience also includes a distinctive caller. One of the best known in his profession, Russ Bray, is saying goodbye to the big stage with today’s finale. Players and fans will certainly miss the 66-year-old Englishman with the charismatic, rough voice. Today they are once again hoping with us for as many “Onnnnne hundred and eighty!” as possible. Speaking of 180: The 901 was the record last year, this year we are at 878. A new record could be set today and for every 180 the main sponsor donates 1000 British pounds to a charity that is dedicated to fighting prostate cancer .
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!