Luke Humphries inspired by Dimitri Van Den Bergh
LUKE HUMPHRIES admits he is striving to do a Dimitri Van den Bergh and win a major title before he’s 30. The World Youth Champion has been through so much already, revealing anxiety issues in April last year and then received social media abuse after winning the Youth title just a few months later. But Hump, 25, became the first Premier League Contender to win a match, beating Gary Anderson in early March. Now the Newbury star has been inspired by Van den Bergh’s Matchplay win.
He told Weekly Dartscast: “Dimitri’s win at the Matchplay is a bit of an inspiration. He was never favourite to win it and it shows that anyone can win a huge title like that. “I’ve been close a few times especially in the World Championship, only a couple of really good performances have put me out. “Who would know what would have happened if Michael Smith and Peter Wright hadn’t had those great performances against me in those quarter-finals? “I could have gone on to the final and then it’s anyone’s game. I took a bit of inspiration from Dimitri. It’s something I can strive for, I can win a major before I’m 30.”
Cool Hand Luke also revealed that he's fitter than ever in his bid to go up another level in the sport, joining a band of players who have shed the pounds during lockdown. He added: “It’s been a tough situation for me, I just want to be playing darts. But I’ve lost a few stone and quite a few people have noticed now. “I did about 500 miles on an exercise bike and eating healthy, looked after myself. It’s been a good opportunity for us professional darts players to lose a bit of weight. A lot of us have done it. “It stands me in good stead for these long days we incur on the Pro Tours. “I don’t think anything inspired me, I was a bit overweight. Darts players do tend to get overweight eating at the wrong times.
“There’s no certain eating time, you can be losing at 3pm or 7pm after a final. Eating at the wrong times and not healthy meals. “I decided to eat the right things for a couple of months and I managed to work it really well and lose a bit of weight. I did it for good stamina. “This isn’t just for lockdown, I’m going to keep it off now. It’s going to be hard because when you’re away on the Pro Tour you’re away from home. But if you stick to it, it’s easy to do. “I’ll probably try to lose a couple more stone, I won’t be silly and lose too much. Because I’ve been practising while I’ve been losing weight, it’s not affected my throw.
“The Summer Series was different. We are used to doing what we want after we’ve won a game or lost a game. “But we felt very privileged to carry on playing unlike other sports. The PDC did a great job on social distancing rules. “I didn’t really have any highlights myself. I always seem to play really well and not get the results I think I deserve. “But I’m still young, still fresh and a big future ahead of me. This is only my third year as a pro. I can’t be too hard on myself.”
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By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia)
Pictures by Taylor Lanning (@taylanningpix)