Humphries Seals Glory As Rodriguez Takes Win

Luke Humphries (PDC)

LUKE HUMPHRIES secured victory on the 2017 PDC Unicorn Development Tour Order of Merit with his fifth tournament win of the year on Sunday, as Rowby-John Rodriguez also claimed a £2,000 title in Wigan.

Humphries, a 22-year-old from Newbury, will make his William Hill World Darts Championship debut in December before progressing to compete on the PDC ProTour in 2018 following his brilliant success on this year's Development Tour.

Having won a quarter of the year's 20 Development Tour events, Humphries claimed £13,400 in prize money during the season, which included £3,000 on Sunday's final day of action in Wigan.

Humphries was firstly the Event 19 runner-up to Austrian thrower Rodriguez, before going all the way to win Event 20, where he saw off Jake Jones in the final.

He also defeated Toine Leidelmeijer, Terry Webb, William Borland, Dawson Murschell, Josh Payne, Adam Hunt and Saturday's Event 18 winner Ted Evetts on his way to victory.

Rodriguez followed up his best finish of the season as he reached Saturday's Event 18 final by taking victory in Event 19, picking up his first title since April 2015.

The 23-year-old cruised through his first three games without dropping a leg as he saw off Declan Taylor, Arron Fairweather and Nathan Rafferty, before a 4-3 success over Wessel Nijman moved Rodrigues into the quarter-finals.

There, he overcame Steve Lennon 5-2 and edged out Scott Dale 5-3 in the semi-finals before emerging victorious in a deciding leg against Humphries in the final.

Rodriguez later lost out in the last 32 of Event 20 to Payne, while both of Saturday's event winners, Evetts and Mike De Decker, won through to the semi-finals.

Jones' run to the Event 20 final was his best finish since being runner-up to Keegan Brown in a Development Tour event in November 2014, as he this time lost out to Humphries.

Corey Cadby warmed up for his defence of the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship title on Monday by competing in both events, losing to Josh Payne in the last 64 of Event 19 and reaching the last 16 of Event 20 before being edged out by Adam Hunt.

SEE FULL RESULTS IN THE MATCH CENTRE AT THIS LINK

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PDC UNICORN DEVELOPMENT TOUR ORDER OF MERIT

PDC Unicorn Development Tour
Sunday November 5, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Event 19
Last 16

Dawson Murschell 4-3 Geert Nentjes
Martin Schindler 4-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Luke Humphries 4-2 Zac Sanders
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 4-3 Ted Evettes
Brian Raman 4-1 Brandon Walsh
Scott Dale 4-3 Lewis Pride
Rowby-John Rodriguez 4-3 Wessel Nijman
Steve Lennon 4-1 Sam Hewson

Quarter-Finals
Dawson Murschell 5-2 Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries 5-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Scott Dale 5-2 Brian Raman
Rowby-John Rodriguez 5-2 Steve Lennon

Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 5-2 Dawson Murschell
Rowby-John Rodriguez 5-3 Scott Dale

Final
Rowby-John Rodriguez 5-4 Luke Humphries

Event 20
Last 16

Mike De Decker 4-2 Tom Lonsdale
Kevin De Vries 4-2 Rhys Hayden
Mike van Duivenbode 4-2 Scott Dale
Jake Jones 4-3 Max Hopp
Luke Humphries 4-0 Josh Payne
Adam Hunt 4-3 Corey Cadby
Ted Evetts 4-2 Geert Nentjes
Wessel Nijman 4-3 Andrew Davidson

Quarter-Finals
Mike De Decker 5-1 Kevin De Vries
Jake Jones 5-2 Mike van Duivenbode
Luke Humphries 5-1 Adam Hunt
Ted Evetts 5-4 Wessel Nijman

Semi-Finals
Jake Jones 5-4 Mike De Decker
Luke Humphries 5-2 Ted Evetts

Final
Luke Humphries 5-3 Jake Jones

2017 PDC Unicorn Development Tour - Rewards
Order of Merit winner:
Luke Humphries - two-year PDC Tour Card for 2018/2019 plus place in 2017/2018 William Hill World Darts Championship
Order of Merit runner-up: Dimitri Van den Bergh - already holds PDC Tour Card
Order of Merit ranked 3-8: Adam Hunt, Kenny Neyens, Ted Evetts, Mike van Duivenbode, Mike De Decker, Rowby-John Rodriguez - receive free entry to 2018 PDC Qualifying School (if applicable)