Luke Humphries left it late but finally confirmed qualification for finals night in the Premier League Darts, sealing his first nightly win of the 2026 campaign in Birmingham. The reigning champion expressed relief after scraping through the hard way. “Probably relieved. It’s been strange for me because the form has kind of been there, then not there, then there again. Over the last three weeks, the performances have definitely been there, but I just couldn’t get over the line,” he told Online Darts. “It’s been a strange period, but I’ve also been able to see a different version of myself. It’s always nice when you qualify after the 13th or 14th week because it shows a bit of character. You’re in the nitty-gritty and you still manage to qualify.”
En route to the final, Humphries thrashed Stephen Bunting 6-0 while averaging over 107. He then defeated Luke Littler 6-3, winning six consecutive legs while averaging almost 111, and got the job done against Gerwyn Price in the final with a 6-4 scoreline to cement qualification. The Littler match was especially impressive, coming back from 3-0 down against the world number one. “I just took it one game at a time. I knew the game against Stephen Bunting was important because if I lost that one, everything became permutations for next week,” he acknowledged. “Once I got through that match, and then with Gerwyn Price losing — luckily I was in the second semi-final so I could see what was happening — I knew that even if I lost to Luke, there was still a chance I could qualify in Sheffield. So the pressure came off a little bit.”
Humphries has consistently boasted impressive scoring throughout the whole Premier League campaign, but the doubles have let him down on numerous occasions. Now he has got his first nightly win of 2026, it feels like he is peaking at the right time. “The stats would show that. I always look at stats, and I think I’m averaging more than anybody else in this Premier League again,” he emphasised. “The funny thing for me is that I always get written off. I have a couple of bad months and suddenly it’s, ‘Oh, he’s a has-been.’ I see it, but I never really listen to it because I know that performance is always around the corner. Over the last three weeks I’ve probably averaged around 103, and for the whole year I’m averaging 100. So I know I’m playing well.” He acknowledged his doubling woes, but they are now starting to improve. “The main thing that was affecting me was my doubles. Tonight they were really good. Last week they were good. The week before they were good. That was the missing piece. Now I’m hitting them, everything is coming together more. So yeah, it’s nice to be written off because I always seem to come back fine.”
Humphries also committed to a healthier lifestyle, investing in a gym at home and working out more. “It was more about dedication than anything else. I’ve invested a lot into a gym at home. I’m working out a lot more and eating healthier. I’ve always tried to live healthily, but maybe I wasn’t as dedicated as I needed to be. Over the last three months I’ve really dedicated myself to getting back to where I was four or five years ago, maybe even better than that. So yeah, just being more dedicated,” he said. He added that going through past mental health struggles made him mentally stronger. “Going through those struggles made me mentally stronger. I’ve said that many times. When you’ve gone through so much in your own mind and managed to overcome it and still win big things, it changes you mentally. I’m not saying I’m happy I went through it, but it definitely made me stronger because of it. All I care about now is being an inspiration to other people — whether that’s players or anyone else.”
