Luke Humphries – Rise to PDC Premier League Contender

Luke Humphries 2020 PDC World Youth Champion takes on Gary Anderson as a Premier League contender for the second time in Exeter, Live on Sky this Thursday night from 7.00pm. “Cool Hand” Luke has climbed his way through all levels of the game, battling through the PDC Development system and now sits in 34th spot on the PDC Order of Merit, just 2 ranking spots outside a much coveted top 32. However, Luke has also battled off the Oche with well reported issues of anxiety over that last few years. Luke came out publicly to address these issues last year and received resounding support from within the darts industry, players and fans across the globe. Not only did this help Luke and in his own words said “it has taken a weight of my shoulders”, but it was also to help raise awareness of mental health issues and to encourage others to speak out about their issues. The pressure that professional darts players are under can be huge throughout their career and it’s a credit to Luke that he has been able to battle through these obstacles and continue to excel in the sport he loves. We asked Luke what it was that kept him driving forward and he said “Darts has always been in my blood and I’ve loved playing ever since a young age, I joined the PDC Development Tour as early as I could” “As I progressed pretty quickly through the PDC system, I began to feel myself struggling with some things and it really came to a head at the 2017 World Championships, my debut at Alexandra Palace” “The issues that I’ve had with my anxiety were starting to really affect me and my game which they never had before, so I made the decision to come out publicly and face my problems head on – something which I feel has really helped me deal with things over the last 12 months” Luke is one of a new breed of young darts player that almost completely avoided the BDO circuit and learnt his trade throughout the PDC Development and Challenge Tours on his way to earning a full PDC Tour Card and becoming a top professional player. Luke was a dominant force during his time on the Development tour, topping the Development Tour OoM multiple times and finishing with 11 titles to his name. This culminated in the Newbury thrower being crowned PDC World Youth Championship in 2019, his final year on the youth circuit. Luke now sits just two positions off a coveted top 32 spot on the PDC Order of Merit as he continues to grow into an outstanding dart player. Luke said “I’m always working really hard on my game and I really believe that I can keep progressing into the higher rankings of the PDC. It’s always been belief in my ability that keeps me focused on improving” “If you look at my performances at the World Championships in the last two years, it shows that I can mix it with the best and pick up results when I play to my best ability, I’m now focused on improving my consistency on the floor to give me that extra push I need to break into the top 32” “Being back on stage in Exeter again for the Premier League is going to be fantastic and I can’t wait to play Gary on Thursday” We look forward to seeing Luke as a Contender again in Exeter, all the action is Live on Sky Sports from 7.00pm on Thursday. Night Five Thursday March 5 Westpoint Exeter Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney Gerwyn Price v Glen Durrant Nathan Aspinall v Peter Wright Gary Anderson v Luke Humphries Michael Smith v Michael van Gerwen