Luke Humphries admits he was ‘flabbergasted’ after producing a magical nine-darter to wrap up victory over Michael Smith on Day Two of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts.
Humphries ran out a 5-3 winner against 2022 Grand Slam champion Smith to retain top spot in Group A, sealing the deal with his second televised nine-darter of the campaign.
The world number one was below-par for large periods of the contest, missing nine darts at double in the opening leg as Smith seized the early initiative.
Humphries hit back with a superb 139 checkout to level at two apiece, before following up a crucial break of throw in leg seven with a sensational nine-dart salvo.
“I think it’s probably the weirdest game of darts I’ve ever been involved in,” conceded Humphries, who lifted the Eric Bristow Trophy in 2023.
“I hit a nine-darter in practice so I felt really good, but when I went up on that stage it just felt like really hard work.
“It was the worst I’ve felt up on the big stage for years and years, so to then go on and hit a nine-darter, that’s why darts is one of the best sports in the world.
“I’ve always wanted to hit nine-darters on TV, but I’ve always really wanted to win a game with a nine-darter.
“I don’t know where it came from; I’m still flabbergasted to be honest!”
The 30-year-old becomes just the second player to register a nine-dart finish in the round-robin phase of the Grand Slam, after Ryan Searle produced perfection to clinch victory against Nathan Rafferty two years ago.
Despite making it two wins from two in Group A, Humphries is yet to confirm his place in the knockout stages ahead of a blockbuster clash against Nathan Aspinall on Monday evening.
Humphries requires three legs against Aspinall to book his place in the last 16, as he bids to preserve his hopes of retaining his world number one status.
“You cannot always go up there and feel amazing,” continued Humphries, who is defending £150,000 in prize money on the two-year ranking system.
“I can’t take much from the performance, but I showed some bottle in the end, and that’s going to give me a great feeling going into tomorrow.”
The 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Monday November 10
Groups A-D Final Matches
James Wade v Ricky Evans (D)
Chris Dobey v Martin Lukeman (B)
Stephen Bunting v Luke Woodhouse (C)
Martin Schindler v Alexis Toylo (C)
Damon Heta v Jurjen van der Velde (B)
Gerwyn Price v Stefan Bellmont (D)
Michael Smith v Alex Spellman (A)
Luke Humphries v Nathan Aspinall (A)