Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries wins night eight in Dublin
- Published
- comments
Luke Humphries (left) beat Nathan Aspinall (right) 6-4 in the semi-finals in Dublin
Luke Humphries believes only two players in the world are capable of beating him on current form after winning night eight of Premier League Darts in Dublin.
World champion Humphries won a third successive night in the competition by beating Michael Smith 6-2 in the final.
Humphries is now seven points clear at the top of the table as the competition reached its halfway point.
"I'm not arrogant at all," Humphries told Sky Sports.
"But I feel like if I play my 'A' game, there are only a couple of people who can test me in that manner; I think Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen are the two that can push me and their 'A' level can beat me."
Humphries' win in Dublin, where he averaged more than 105 across victories over Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright, saw him claim a night victory for the third week on the trot, having also recently won in Brighton and Nottingham.
"Anything can happen and if I don't keep playing like this then anybody can beat me," Humphries, 29, added.
"I feel like I'm playing the best darts in the world, especially in the past six or seven months consistently, but there are so many great players and anything can happen every week."
Humphries grew his lead over Michael van Gerwen at the top of the table after the Dutchman was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price.
Welshman Price ended a run of four straight quarter-final exits with a dramatic 6-5 victory.
Price had led 4-1 and missed a match dart against Van Gerwen, but held on to win 6-5.
For Van Gerwen, who won three straight nights in Berlin, Glasgow and Newcastle earlier this year, it is now four successive quarter-final exits.
Price lost the chance to reach the final for the first time since the opening night in Cardiff, missing a dart at bull in his 6-5 semi-final loss to Smith, who won the deciding leg with a 104 checkout.
Littler dropped from third to fifth in the table after suffering defeat in the quarter-finals against Smith. Despite leading 3-1, Smith rallied back and took advantage of inconsistency from Littler to win 6-4.
Wins over Littler and Price for Smith saw him climb two places from sixth to fourth in the table.
Night nine of the league phase will take place in Belfast on Thursday, 28 March.
Premier League Darts table
Night eight results
Quarter-finals
Luke Humphries 6-1 Peter Wright
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Rob Cross
Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler 4-6 Michael Smith
Semi-finals
Humphries 6-4 Aspinall
Price 5-6 Smith
Final
Humphries 6-2 Smith