OUT OF LUKE
‘I’ve had other things on my mind,’ says Luke Humphries after shock Grand Slam of Darts exit following family issue
Humphries' exit has shifted the expectations onto Luke Littler
LUKE HUMPHRIES has said that he has "had other things on my mind" after crashing out of the Grand Slam of Darts.
The sport's top thrower was dumped from the competition in the group stages after losing both of his opening two clashes.
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Humphries, 29, suffered defeats to James Wade and World No.71 Rowby John Rodriguez to seal his fate.
Cool Hand Luke still has one more match to play against Michael Mansell, but is unable to qualify from his group.
The uncharacteristic showing from Humphries left fans in shock with his electric form becoming the norm this year.
And the tungsten chucker has taken to social media to explain that his mind has been elsewhere during the tournament.
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On X, he wrote: "What can I say... gutted to be out of the Grand Slam.
"[It] Just wasn’t me up on that stage this week, but I’ve had other things on my mind and it makes it so much harder to perform at this level.
"Looking forward to getting back to my son who’s not been well the past few days!"
He added: ";Thank you to everyone for the support and the lovely messages this week.
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"Love you all, and I’m looking forward to spending some time at home with my family, I’ll be back and good luck to the remaining players in the competition!";
Humphries is putting his family first as he heads back home from the tournament.
'Sickening,' says Wayne Mardle as Luke Littler makes frank admission after storming through Grand Slam of Darts group
But he will have his eyes on the prize once again when he returns to the oche next week for the Players Championship Finals.
While he will also have one eye on the fast-approaching World Championships as he bids to retain his crown as world champ.
Elsewhere in the Grand Slam of Darts, teen Sensation Luke Littler booked his spot in the next round by winning his first two match-ups of the competition.
The 17-year-old has been on a superb run of form recently and has been putting up some ridiculous averages.
Speaking after wins over Keane Barry and Dimitri Van den Bergh, Littler said: "The belief is growing. Everyone was looking at the reigning champ Luke Humphries but he has gone out now.
“Maybe the eyes are on me now. But I’ve got to focus. Chill out tomorrow and come back Tuesday to top the group.”
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List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 - Dennis Priestley
- 1995 - Phil Taylor
- 1996 - Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 - Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 - Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 - Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 - Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 - Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 - Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 - John Part
- 2004 - Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 - Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 - Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 - John Part (2)
- 2009 - Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 - Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 - Adrian Lewis
- 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 - Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 - Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 - Gary Anderson
- 2016 - Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 - Rob Cross
- 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 - Peter Wright
- 2021 - Gerwyn Price
- 2022 - Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 - Michael Smith
- 2024 - Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 - Phil Taylor
- 3 - Michael van Gerwen
- 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries
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