Luke Humphries retained his Players’ Championship title this past weekend, getting one over rival and namesake, Luke Littler. The two Lukes’ rivalry is the biggest talking point of darts at the moment, and both are tipped for deep runs at the 2025 PDC Darts World Championship which will take place December onwards at the Alexandra Palace.
The two Lukes’ ascent to stardom has also brought a lot more eyeballs to the sport and we sat down with legendary former darts referee, Russ Bray who gave his view on their rivalry and why it’s important for the sport to grow.
You need rivalries for the sport to grow – Littler, Humphries, MVG, they’re box office
Bray, who had a storied career in the sport likened the Littler-Humphries rivalry to past rivalries in the sport. He adds that this rivalry is made even better by the strong pool of players like Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price and more. In Bray’s view, whenever these players meet each other, it’s box office viewing.
“Most sports have great rivalries. Back then you had John Lowe vs Eric Bristow and Bristow vs Jocky Wilson – three great rivalries there. Then Phil Taylor vs Dennis Priestley, Taylor-Barney – headline moves.
“Now you’ve got Littler and Humphries. Headline moves. With MVG running, with Michael Smith running, with Rob Cross running, with Gerwyn Price running. So you’ve not got even more exciting action.
“When Luke Littler plays MVG, it’s box office. When he plays Gerwyn Price, it’s box office. When Luke Humphries plays MVG, it’s box office. So you’ve got an awful lot more going on then and that’s where it will improve.”
‘It’s going to to get more exciting’
“The Voice” continued specifically on Humphries and Littler, saying that this rivalry can continue to scale even bigger heights provided they maintain their hunger to outdo each other and win everything possible. He pointed to Humphries’ latest win in the Players’ Championship and feels that Littler will be looking to beat Humphries the next time they face each other.
“Of course, we saw it last night, Littler and Humphries final. Humphries won that particular one on the last night of the Players’ Championships.
“So that’s gonna go on as long as the ‘boys want it’. That’s the other aspect. With fortune and fame, do you want to go for another practice session when you’ve got a million in the bank? You could have another attitude there but with these boys, they’re not even thinking about the money. They’re thinking about the glory because they’ve got the money.”
“And that’s where it’s going to get more exciting. Littler, when he’s gonna go into the next tournament, the World Championship, he’s not gonna want Humphries to beat him. Humphries would want to maintain winning over him after winning the Players’ Championship.”
Bray also feels that it will get more exciting as other players will look to spoil the two Lukes’ party, specifically mentioning this year’s European Championship as an example.
“And that’s the exciting thing we got coming over the next years and there’s a lot more players in the mix. The more games there are on now, it’s getting that much more exciting.
“Look at the European Championships, World No. 39 and World No. 40, in the final. So that shows the depth of talent in darts and it is exciting. When you’ve got Luke and Luke in the headlines all the time, there’s going to be excitement no matter who they play and even more so if they lose to a lower ranked player. The headlines would go ‘Luke Littler lost to blah blah blah’. That’s where darts is going forward.”
Darts rivalries are a lot like tennis rivalries
Bray compares the Lukes’ rivalry to that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, citing how you want to watch them play whether or not you’re a darts fan or not. He extends that sentiment to the whole sport and feels there a lot of “must-watch” matches now in the sport.
“Darts rivalries today can be a lot like tennis rivalries – Rafa vs Roger, Roger vs Djokovic, Rafa vs Djokovic. When you go back to my time – Sampras, Connors, McEnroe, Borg. I can relate to that.”
“You need that in the sport. You need them rivalries. You need the big rivalries. ‘Oh he’s playing him, I can’t wait to watch that tonight’.
“Nadal, every time he was out there with Djokovic or Federer, you had to watch it. Whether you was a massive tennis fan or not, you had to watch that. It’s the same with darts now – ‘I’ve got to watch Littler play Humphries, I’ve got to watch Littler play MVG, I’ve got to watch Humphries play MVG’.That’s the exciting thing we got in darts at the minute.”
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