Lethal Luke Humphries says being miserable and moany is purely about staying ahead of Luke Littler and pushing to hit the next level.
The World No.1 has made a brilliant start to the regular 2025 term with wins at the Masters and Night One of Premier League Darts. Humphries has modestly claimed Littler is the best player on the planet, but the rankings say other wise as he’s top dog in the PDC standings.
Turning 30 on Monday, his pursuit of perfection pushes him and leads to gripes on the stage when he’s not at peak and Humphries explained: “Sometimes I might not look like I enjoy it up on the stage, people think I’m miserable or moany, but I love playing. This is what I was born to do and I really enjoy myself up there and enjoy winning as well.
“I’ve always wanted to be world champion. I’ve achieved that dream, so anything I win now is a bonus and you’ve seen that from me over the last 12 months. I’ve won three majors with the World Cup. Luke is the best player in the world. We all know, it’s not something that you want to fight. He’s performing the best. He’s just been a bit unlucky as a target on his back being the world champion, everyone wants to beat him and this will happen over his career.
“But I always know that I can compete with the best and, you don’t get to No.1 for nothing. I’m looking forward to playing him in many, many games this year and I’m going to have to be at my utmost best. He does drive you on, he makes you want to be better. He’s a fantastic talent, just going to be so great over the next 20 years and it’s up to me to get better to try and challenge him.
“Last year could have been even more special. If I’d have won the Worlds, I would have probably put it up there better than 2023, to be honest, so this is a great start [to 2025]. But it’s important that you don’t get ahead of yourself and think: Okay, everything’s going well now. I won’t practice, I’ll just relax, everything’s going to come to me. I always stay dedicated.
“I’m always striving for more, I always want to get better and that’s important. I think that’s why you always see me every year striving and striving for more and winning more. I do think I can get better. The key for me is I’m very clinical under pressure. I think that’s won me a lot. I do think now there’s another gear in me that can get better scoring wise. I have a decent score, but I believe I can get better at it and, if I can match that up, I stand a great chance of having a greater career than I’ve got now.”