Humphries & Littler remain on collision course in Minehead

Luke Humphries and Luke Littler remain on a collision course at the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals, after moving through to the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Day Two of the £600,000 event saw the second and third rounds take place on a bumper day at Butlin’s Minehead Resort, as reigning champion Humphries continued his defence of the title.

The world number one overcame Raymond van Barneveld and Damon Heta to maintain his bid for back-to-back Players Championship Finals titles, having swept aside Gabriel Clemens on a dramatic opening night.

Humphries averaged over 102 in beating Dutch icon Van Barneveld 6-3 in the second round, while he won nine of the last 12 legs to see off Australian number one Heta 10-6 in Saturday’s finale.

“I felt like I had so much more to give there,” reflected Humphries, who insists he would relish a showdown with Littler if both players progress to Sunday’s showpiece.

“Luke is playing some absolutely phenomenal darts right now. He’s probably the best player in the world at the moment, but I know I’ve got a level to match that.

“Hopefully I can get to the final and give the fans what they want, but I’ve still got a couple of games to win before we can think about that. You cannot look too far ahead.”

Fresh from his 112.73 average against Rob Cross on Friday evening, Littler maintained his breathtaking form with dominant wins over Ritchie Edhouse and Danny Noppert.

The newly-crowned Grand Slam champion won through a superb tie against Ritchie Edhouse, missing double 12 for a nine-darter in a contest which saw both players average 105.

Littler then backed this up with a 10-3 thrashing of former UK Open champion Danny Noppert, averaging 104 and crashing in seven 180s to extend his winning run to ten matches.

“When I go on these little bursts, I feel like nobody can touch me in between,” claimed the teenage sensation, who has now climbed to a career-high of world number four.

“I’m just very happy to win. I played really well against Ritchie this afternoon, and I felt comfortable tonight.”

The 17-year-old will now renew his rivalry with World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker in the last eight, after the Belgian conceded just four legs throughout Saturday’s double-header.

De Decker averaged 101 in a six-leg blitz of Ian White in the afternoon session, before running out a convincing 10-4 winner against Niels Zonneveld in the last 16.

Ross Smith also eased through to Finals Day, following up a brace of 6-1 wins over Dimitri Van den Bergh and Wesley Plaisier with a 10-1 thumping of 2023 UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.

Smith will now face Scott Williams, who moved through to his second televised ranking quarter-final with comeback victories over 2012 runner-up Kim Huybrechts and Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf.

Williams converted a trio of ton-plus checkouts in each game to continue his charge in Minehead, averaging 101 and landing a spectacular 170 finish to topple De Graaf 10-8 in a high-quality tussle.

Elsewhere, Ryan Joyce – a semi-finalist in 2023 – maintained his impressive Minehead record to set up a quarter-final clash against world number one Humphries.

Joyce survived four match darts to win through a dramatic second round tie against Cameron Menzies, before seeing off German number one Martin Schindler 10-6 in the last 16.

Dirk van Duijvenbode continued his revival with resounding wins over Florian Hempel and Jermaine Wattimena, averaging 99 to wrap up a 10-5 success against the European Championship runner-up.

Van Duijvenbode’s reward is a last eight clash against Connor Scutt, who eased past Mario Vandenbogaerde and 2018 champion Daryl Gurney to seal a spot in his first televised quarter-final.

Earlier in the day, world number three Michael Smith suffered a second round exit against Gurney, with Dave Chisnall and Nathan Aspinall also crashing out at the same stage.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday November 24, with the afternoon's quarter-finals followed by the semi-finals and final later in the evening.

The evening session will also see the PDC Winmau World Youth Championship final take place, as Dutch duo Gian van Veen and Jurjen van der Velde go head-to-head for the title.

The 2024 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay.

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