Luke Humphries could be replaced as world number one at the European Darts Championship. The Englishman talks about the competition with Luke Littler and responds to his critics.
Will Luke Humphries be overtaken by Luke Littler in the world rankings at the European Darts Championship? If the 18-year-old reaches the European Championship final in Dortmund, he will be the new world number one. Humphries was asked about this after his whitewash victory against Krzysztof Ratajski in the opening round.
“That doesn’t bother me at all,” said the Englishman and added: “If that were the case, I would probably play with some fear, and I don’t.”
Humphries pointed out that he could win the European Championship, the Grand Slam and the Players Championship Finals, but would still lose the top spot in the PDC Order of Merit if he doesn’t win the world title and Littler succeeds instead.
This is because the future world champion will earn a record prize money of one million pounds, and Humphries must defend his earnings from his title win in 2024. At that time, he won 500,000 pounds.
At the same time, he emphasized regarding the scenario of no longer being world number one after the European Championship: “If I win the World Championship, I’ll get the spot back immediately anyway. That’s the reality.”
The 33-year-old explained that he enjoyed the past 22 months at the top of the rankings and reported on criticism from that time.
“When I became number one, people called me ‘the worst number one of all time’,” Humphries recalled and made a statement to his critics: “Since then, I’ve won four major titles, reached the World Championship final and proved myself. Whether I keep the number one spot or not: I’m proud of what I’ve achieved.”