Luke Humphries felt powerless against ‘untouchable’ Luke Littler that set record average

Luke Humphries has reflected on the struggles he faced against a record-breaking Luke Littler in the New Zealand Darts Masters final.

Littler won his second consecutive World Series title by beating the defending champion 8-4 at the Spark Arena in Auckland.

Getty

He set an average score of 115.02 during his charge to the title, which is the highest average ever recorded in a World Series final.

And Humphries, who lost the opening three legs, revealed how the quality of his opponent was too much to handle.

Speaking afterwards via ESPN, he said: “I played pretty well today but when you run into a 115 average there’s not much you can do.

“I think if I’d won that sixth leg it might have given me a glimmer of hope but the better player won for sure.

“When Luke’s on it, he’s untouchable. I held in there and I gave it my best but he was just too good in the end.”

Humphries’ run to the final was all the more impressive given he was struck down by illness just a week earlier at the Australian Darts Masters.

He exited the competition in Wollongong on the back of a brutal 6-0 defeat to Mike De Decker, but ‘Cool Hand’ revealed he had ‘bad flu’ and was since put on antibiotics by a doctor in New Zealand.

It was the pair’s first meeting at the oche since May, when Humphries triumphed over his younger rival 11-8 in the Premier League final.

But Littler responded to defeat in excellent fashion in New Zealand, just a week after his victory in Australia.

How Littler reacted to beating Humphries

“It felt very much the same as last week,” he said. “I had a shaky start in my opening game.

Getty

“But once you come into finals night, you know you have to switch it on, and that’s what I did again tonight.

“I felt unbeatable up there.

“The crowd was brilliant and the venue was incredible, it felt like a Premier League night, and I’m very happy to lift another title.

“I’m playing very well at the moment, I’m enjoying my darts, and hopefully I can keep this winning streak going.”

Littler began 2025 in style by becoming the youngest ever PDC World Darts Championship winner ahed 17 years and 347 days.

The teenager then won a first UK Open before retaining his Belgian Darts Open title.

World Matchplay success followed at the end of July to complete the Triple Crown after World Championship and Premier League titles.