Luke Humphries on what the key was to beating Luke Littler in the World Darts Championship final

EXCLUSIVE: Luke Humphries has opened up about exactly what he had to do to defeat Luke Littler in the 2024 World Darts Championship final.

While ‘The Nuke’ defeated ‘Cool Hand’ last night to win the Winmau World Masters, when it mattered most, it was the seasoned operator who came out on top.

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Luke Humphries says relaxing was the key to beating Luke Littler

While there are likely many things one must do to triumph over Luke Littler, according to Luke Humphries, there’s nothing more important than merely staying composed.

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, he explained: “The funny thing is that I wasn’t the favourite. They probably thought he was going to go on to have the fairy-tale ending, but I was in good form from the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and maybe I relaxed because I thought that everyone expected him to win it, even though I was world number one. Obviously, at 4-2 down, you’re staring defeat in the face, but I managed to nick that seventh set, which probably hurts him a lot. I never looked back from there, five sets on the trot.

“I did play well, but you’ve got to say, as a 16-year-old, as he was, to do what he did, is something we’ll never see again. It was the perfect final to be in because it was the most-watched final. It was a privilege to be a part of, it’s still that big final I look back on and think, ‘I’m so glad that I won it’.”

Luke Humphries loves his Red Dragon darts

While he may not have retained the Winmau World Masters, Humphries still produced several tremendous displays throughout the tournament, utilizing his Red Dragon darts to navigate his way to the final.

The legend said: “For me, I started off with Red Dragon, eight or nine years ago now. You don’t really know where your career is going to end up, and they’ve taken me to the next level with the craftsmanship. The darts I use now have taken me to many of the accolades I’ve got, and that’s all down to the engineering of Lee and helping me find the right balance in the dart. We’re working on something new and fresh. It’s a great company to be a part of. They’re so lovely to me and have worked so hard for me. Hopefully, I’ve repaid them with all the major tournaments I’ve won.”

Tom Brown explains why players work with Red Dragon and Winmau

On Friday night, a new era in the sport began, with the Blade X taking centre stage at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

Tom Brown, CEO of Nodor Group, is thrilled that the board has gone down so well, with the darts aficionado explaining why so many of the world’s best want to join forces with Red Dragon and Winmau.

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, he enthused: “I mean, the players are just brilliant to work with. We’ve got four of the top five-ranked players in the world at the moment. These guys are unbelievably involved in our business. This is a sport of marginal gains. So, if you go back 20-30 years, people were hitting an average of 105-110, but not many people were hitting that average. Now, you come forward to today, what’s changed? Well, people are hitting the same average, but more people are hitting the average of 105-110. These players are looking for marginal gains.

“What’s so great is that, whether it’s Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, or whoever, they come to our facility in Bridge End to our famous flight room, and they spend a day or two just throwing darts — different weights, configurations, point lengths and flights, just to figure out if they can get ahead on their game using some small changes that we recommend. That’s great because you get this instant feedback, and we’ve got all the machinery there to make those darts there while they wait. So, this is one of the reasons why we partner with them and why they love partnering with either Red Dragon or Winmau, so they can get those marginal gains so they can win.”