Spell-binding Luke Humphries has a pain in the neck at the Grand Slam of Darts
World No.1 Luke Humphries heads into the quarter-finals of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts with a pain in his neck, but in some of the form of his life.
Humphries averaged a mammoth 108.55 – the third-highest average ever in the round two of the Grand Slam – in his spell-binding 10-3 victory over Jurjen van der Velde in Wolverhampton on Wednesday night, despite playing through a suspected pain in his neck and back.
The 2023 champion strolled to a 5-0 lead, averaging north of 119 after five legs, which included a 10-dart leg where Humphries took out the traditional nine-dart checkout of 141 to leave and then take out tops.
Despite a spirited performance from Van der Velde, who took out a 164 checkout in defeat, the world number one closed the game out 10-3 with a 77 per cent checkout success rate.
“It was probably one of the best performances I've ever had in my life,” admitted Humphries, who will face Michael Smith in the last eight. “I woke up this morning and couldn’t get my head off the pillow, I’ve had a bad neck for a few days.
“It’s been a struggle for me all day. It’s crazy how you can perform like that with an injury I’ve had to deal with.
“I cannot believe I’ve done that. I'm in a lot of pain now, it's hurting me, but I'm a fighter. I put everything on the line.”
Smith - the 2022 champion - edged through an epic encounter with Chris Dobey, where 20 match darts were missed before Smith stole a 10-9 win.
After Dobey took an early 5-2 lead, Smith levelled at 5-5 with a magic 164 checkout and then took the advantage at 7-6.
The St Helens star then missed two match darts before Dobey forced a deciding-leg, where 18 more match darts were missed – including a whopping 11 from Dobey – before Smith took out double four to stumble into the quarter-final.
“He kept missing and I was thankful for that,” acknowledged Smith. “I should never have been in that match or been in front, I should never have won, but I will take it.
“Every game I play now, they always go to last legs, and I hate it, it’s doing my head in.
“Something was on my side, I’ll take it. I came to this tournament to win it and I know I've still got a shot.
“I’ve always believed I’ll win tournaments. I might not be physically fit, but mentally I'm still the same person.”
Three-time champion Gerwyn Price also secured his spot in the last eight with a 10-6 win over Martin Schindler which included an excellent start and finish to the game.
Price sped into a 5-1 lead but took his foot off the gas as Schindler reduced the deficit to 6-5. The Welshman took out a huge 170 finish to begin his stellar finish to the game, closing the match with an 11-darter.
“I think that was a difficult game,” said Price, who earned a tie with Ricky Evans in the last eight with his triumph. “Towards the end, I started to play a little bit better and so did he, but I was just happy to get over the winning line.
“This is my favourite tournament, and I always seem to do well here. With the crowd behind me now, I think I’ll do even better.
“I know Ricky [Evans] has been playing fantastic this year. Over the longer format as first to 16, I think it goes in my favour a little bit as I've been in this situation before.”
Evans broke new ground to reach the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, by defeating Luke Woodhouse 10-9 in a last-leg decider.
Woodhouse produced a mid-game burst to lead 8-5, but after missing two darts to go 9-5 up, Evans rattled off five of the next six legs to complete the comeback.
“I don’t think that’s it’s hit me that I've won yet,” said Evans. “I always seem to win the scrappy ones.
“I just threw fast and they seemed to go in, and the crowd got behind me again.
“I think [Woodhouse] is one of the most underrated players in world darts, he is a proper darts player. It was good fun.”
Round two will conclude on Thursday evening, as defending champion Luke Littler takes on rising star Wessel Nijman for a place in the last eight.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen will face fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert for a shot at the quarter-finals, while debutants Lukas Wenig and Niko Springer will lock horns in an all-German affair.
Josh Rock, who dumped out European champion Gian van Veen, will clash with Connor Scutt for a chance to face Littler or Nijman in the quarter-finals.
