Luke Humphries heads into Leeds running out of room for error in the Premier League Darts, with former finalist Mark Webster warning that the world number one can no longer settle for “reasonably good” performances if he wants to reach the play-offs. With only three league nights remaining before the O2 finals, Humphries finds himself down in sixth place and outside the top four after a difficult run of results across the spring.
Thursday night offers another chance to recover ground, but the task is not straightforward. Waiting in the quarter-finals is Josh Rock, one of the most explosive scorers in the field and a player Webster believes poses a genuine danger in the short Premier League format. “I'd expect Humphries to get by Josh and I think he'll win against the winner of the other quarter-final,” Webster says on Sky Sports. “It's about what awaits him in the final and if he can get those crucial, extra couple of points.”
The wider concern for Humphries is that the equation is becoming increasingly unforgiving. Back-to-back nightly wins for Luke Littler have tightened the race at the top, while players around the play-off line continue to pick up crucial points. Humphries, by contrast, has too often seen promising nights end before the latter stages. That has left him chasing rather than controlling his own position. “It's not just those extra points it's about winning the night and getting that extra spring in your step with just Birmingham and Sheffield left,” Webster said. “This is a massive opportunity for Luke and if he doesn't make the final he'll leave there really deflated, and maybe it won't be his year, in terms of making the top 4.”
With Leeds followed by only two more league nights, the margin for error has almost disappeared entirely. “It's a huge opportunity,” Webster concluded. “He comes alive in Leeds and maybe this can be the catalyst because he's running out of time.”
