Humphries stays cool to reach knockout round

Luke Humphries won Group 28 in superb fashion on Thursday night

Luke Humphries averaged 102 over the course of the night to win all three of his matches and make it through to the next stage of the PDC Home Tour on Thursday.

The world No 34 from Newbury defeated Andy Boulton, world No 5 Michael Smith, and young Dutchman Mike van Duivenbode.

Humphries produced some majestic darts throughout the night to take his place in the knockout stages of the competition, while Bully Boy was forced to settle for runners-up spot again.

“I can’t believe how well I played tonight, I knew I could do it. It’s crazy. I played really well tonight,” Humphries said.

“I could get a very tough group but I am going to look forward to the next stage. I am looking forward to it.”

Smith was unable to produce his best darts as he failed to make it through

Smith, the 29-year-old, hit back-to-back 14-dart legs in a superb start to his opening match against Dutchman Van Duivenbode before cleaning up 36 to stretch his advantage. It wasn’t long before Bully Boy sealed a whitewash 5-0 victory with D10. The St Helens’ thrower averaged 98 to kick off this evening’s action with a bang.

Cool Hand Luke then faced The X Factor in the second match of the night. Boulton held his own against Humphries as the pair shared the opening six legs.

Humphries took out 60 under pressure to move one leg away from victory but Boulton’s 14-darter made sure it went the distance. Humphries landed D4 for the victory in which he averaged just over a ton.

Boulton was back in action against Van Duivenbode in the next match with both players looking to claim their first win of the group. Boulton, who resides in Ayrshire, Scotland, produced a magnificent 10-dart leg to break throw for a 3-2 lead and then took out 79 to hold throw in the next.

But Van Duivenbode, nicknamed The Pigeon, broke Boulton’s throw with D10 to send the match into a ninth and deciding leg. However, it was Boulton who broke throw with a humdinger of a leg to steal an important win, averaging an impressive 103.5.

Humphries won the big match of the night against Smith

In the big match of the night, Smith went up against Humphries and there were early fireworks from both players. Former World Championship finalist Smith held with a 13-darter and a 12-darter for an early 2-1 lead before a 14-darter helped the Newbury thrower level it up before the reigning World Youth Champion broke throw with a fine 12-dart leg.

He moved 4-2 up after sinking D16 and Cool Hand Luke completed a stunning victory by nailing D18, averaging 108.5 and landing four 180s to make it two wins from two matches.

Humphries took on Van Duivenbode knowing that victory would hand him a route through to the next round of the competition. A neat double-double finish from Humphries saw him move 2-1 ahead in a high-quality encounter before a maximum set up 28 in the next leg, He pinned D14 with his last-dart in hand to open up a two-leg advantage.

The Pigeon cut the gap with a 14-dart leg but missed darts at double cost him dearly. Humphries nailed tops to move one leg away from victory, but a 12-darter from Van Duivenbode closed the gap again before Humphries took out 56 for the win.

In the dead rubber, Boulton celebrated a magnificent 127 on the bullseye as he battled back from 2-0 down to level up against Smith. But the world No 5 broke again with D10, held, before sealing a comfortable 5-2 win.

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