Luke Humphries retained his Gamers Championship Finals crown after beating Luke Littler 11-7, regardless of some large checkouts from the 17-year-old.
The 29-year-old secured his seventh main title and retained the trophy he first received in 2023 after recovering from a shaky begin at Butlin’s Minehead Resort in Somerset.
Littler, who received the Grand Slam of Darts final week, hit checkouts of 170, 164 and 136 as he threatened to overturn an early deficit, however Humphries held his nerve to win the final three legs.
Teenager Littler missed possibilities at double tops within the first and second legs and Humphries took management as he landed a 12-dart leg to make it 5-1.
Littler responded together with his most 170 checkout and broke again to scale back the deficit additional to 6-4.
However Humphries then took successive legs to edge nearer to victory and, when Littler missed a dart at double 20, he nailed it to finish his sturdy end and hold maintain of the trophy.
Earlier, Littler had defeated Mike De Decker 10-3 within the quarter-finals and adopted that up by beating Ross Smith within the semis 11-9, earlier than going through Humphries, who had overcome Ryan Joyce 10-5 and Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-8 on his technique to the ultimate.
“I’m really, really proud of that one to be honest,” Humphries stated.
“I didn’t feel myself this week playing-wise, I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios but there’s something that Luke does to you. He really drives me, makes me want to be a better player and I enjoy playing him.
“He let me in actually early in that first session to go 4-1 up, I by no means regarded again and I am proud that I did not take my foot off the fuel. These huge video games are what I stay for.
“Luke is a special talent and he was right – I said to him I’ve got to get these [titles] early before he wins them all.
“I would like to be up right here and hitting 105 averages like Luke is on a regular basis however he is a distinct calibre, he is most likely one of the best participant on this planet proper now however there’s one thing about me that by no means provides up.
“This is a great way to go into the Worlds.”
Littler, who misplaced the World Championship remaining to Humphries final yr, stated: “It was tough, missed a few doubles and if you don’t take chances early on, it’s a lot to come back.
“I hit the 170 and the 164 however simply did not have sufficient in the long run.
“It’s been a good past two weeks. I just can’t wait to go home, chill out, obviously practise at home for the Worlds. That’s it now, leading up to the big one.”
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