Luke Humphries on crazy near nine-dart leg against Smith: I wanted to recreate Bully Boy’s iconic Ally Pally moment
Luke Humphries admitted he wanted to replicate Michael Smith’s iconic nine-dart moment from the 2023 World Darts Championship when the pair put in a spectacular leg at the Grand Slam of Darts.
In the 11th leg of their Grand Slam of Darts quarter-final, both Humphries and Smith found six perfect darts before the latter hit T20, T19, then missed D12.
Humphries’ eyes lit up at the chance to do what ‘Bully Boy’ did against Michael van Gerwen in the 2023 World Championship final, when he completed a nine-darter in identical circumstances in what is often called darts’ greatest ever leg.
Sky Sports Darts‘ Wayne Mardle replicated his iconic “Michael may miss and Michael may hit” commentary from two years ago with “Michael may miss and Luke may hit”.
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Michael Smith and Luke Humphries both have attempts at nine-darters during their Grand Slam of Darts match.
But the world No 1 missed his seventh attempt at T20, though he then went on to clinch a dominant 16-8 victory and set up a semi-final showdown with three-time Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price.
Humphries afterwards revealed he was thinking of Mardle in the moment and said to Smith mid-leg he wanted to repeat his opponent’s Ally Pally heroics.
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Watch how, in 2023, Wayne Mardle and Stuart Pyke reacted to the sensational leg between Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith in the World Championship Final that culminated in a nine-darter for Bully Boy.
“Honestly, when Michael missed it, I said to him, ‘this is my chance to rewrite the same history you did’ and he laughed at me.
“I was like, I have hit a nine this week (against Smith earlier in the tournament). So I was just like, I feel like it could go in here and I could create a little bit of history.
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Michael Smith and Luke Humphries miss a crazy amount of doubles as the pair face-off in their Grand Slam of Darts quarter-final match.
“It didn’t happen and maybe that sort of moment affected me a little bit, because the next leg I missed, like, 12 darts, and I think it threw my concentration. That’s why sometimes I’m boring on the stage because I’m so focused I don’t get in them.
“But I love Michael Smith to bits. He’s a good friend of mine, and it’s just so good to see him back playing very naturally with just a long format that he’s not played in a long time.
“Like I said, I was thinking this is my chance to rewrite the same history that he did once he missed.
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Luke Humphries takes out huge 138 checkout in a stunning response to Michael Smith’s fightback in their clash at the Grand Slam of Darts.
“Obviously I was hoping he was going to hit it, really, because I hit one against him and I was like, you deserve one against me.
“Then and he went one away and I was like, well, this is my chance to do it.
“How many times do you see a leg like that, to be honest? Very, very rare. You’ve probably seen it two, three times. Three times in the last three years, so it’s a leg that really doesn’t happen very often.”
‘I am still the man to beat’: Humphries backs his form
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Wayne Mardle reacts to the ‘ridiculous’ standards at the Grand Slam of Darts after Luke Humphries and Michael Smith both went close to the ‘perfect leg’.
While all the talk has been about Luke Littler chasing down the world No 1 spot, which he can clinch by just making it to the final of the Grand Slam, Humphries fancies his own chances.
“Honestly, I think this is the best I’ve played for a long time. The way I felt when I won the Grand Prix and the Grand Slam and Players Championships, I feel like I’m playing better now.
“The last couple of weeks, couple of months, I’m a better player now than I’ve ever been.
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Luke Humphries reflects on his quarter-final Grand Slam of Darts win over Michael Smith and discusses the moment he and Smith both missed chances at a nine-darter.
“If I can just keep it all together and keep performing like this then it’s down to a really good performance to knock me out, and for me this is the important thing going into the World Championships because I feel full of confidence.
“Maybe three or four weeks ago I didn’t feel like I could be a world champion this year but now I do, I believe I can do it again.
“Of course, I still am a man to beat. I think a lot of attention goes on so many other players but me and Luke (Littler) are the two that perform the best all the time so of course we are the two players to beat.
“I’m not really thinking about world No 1 anymore because if I am going to be the one stood here as the Grand Slam champion but not world No 1 I’m sure I’ll be happier.”
Who will win the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts? Watch on Sunday with the semi-finals from 1pm and then the final from 7pm on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW
