Luke Humphries has clear darts plan ahead of World Matchplay after 'emotionless' admission

For all Luke Littler’s attention-grabbing exploits, Luke Humphries remains the player to beat in darts. There has been no hangover since his reign as world champion was shockingly ended by an inspired Peter Wright, who rolled back the years with a 4-1 win in the last 16 at Alexandra Palace.

While disappointed by the loss, there was an upside for Cool Hand after a memorable but demanding year as world champion. The reigning World Matchplay champion used his unexpected downtime around the New Year to completely switch off from darts and reset mentally.

He admitted before the Premier League that he didn’t even watch as Littler demolished Michael van Gerwen to replace him as world champion. He said earlier this year: “My life had been all about darts in December and I just wanted to switch it off for a little bit.

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“I could actually wake up on the 31st and not think about darts for a change. I didn’t watch any of it, I just wanted to break away from it.”

A refreshed Humphries has since won two of the first two majors of the year, adding the World Masters and the Premier League to his glittering CV. Humphries is rightly lauded as a superb ambassador for the game and someone who isn’t afraid to speak candidly about his own weaknesses and struggles.

After a 6-1 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode at the International Darts Open, Humphries confessed that playing felt like a "chore" and he needed a break for his mental well-being. He said that he felt "emotionless" due to the sport’s exhaustive schedule. That led to a social media backlash, with keyboard warriors accusing him of not appreciating his status.

Humphries responded with typical candour on X: “Considering the comments and people not understanding what I meant, it will be the last time I ever confess my real feelings to the public.

"Everything I say or ever do just never seems to be good enough for anybody. As long as no one complains when we all give the same answers in interviews like robots and not our true feelings, then everyone I guess will be happy, or usually will still find a way to moan at us."

Humphries was in a cheerier mood a couple of months later as he lifted the Premier League title for the first time after beating Littler 11-8 in the final.

Reflecting on his previous comments, Humphries said: “It's about when I had those struggles in March. It felt hard work and everything you dedicate yourself for, it makes it worthwhile when you achieve things like this.

"It's emotional because you work so hard, you're away from home for so long to get those trophies. It means the world. I do believe I've got that mental strength. I said earlier, if I win the title, I know I'll have won it by mental strength and belief. I feel like that was the case.

"In the final, I was 3-0 down and could easily have let that slip away from me but I used mental strength to keep myself in the game."

At just 30, Humphries can rack up more titles over the next decade. The next big prize in his sights is the World Matchplay.

"I'm still relatively young in the game and I'm only a couple of titles away from being possibly the third-most successful darts player [ever behind Phil Taylor and Van Gerwen]," said Humphries, who begins the defence of his World Matchplay title against Ryan Searle on Saturday night.

"But when you reach 10 major titles, you're in some unseen territory so I'll keep pushing. I want to get over 10 so hopefully I can do that in the next couple of years."