Humphries wins Premier League Night 1 after Littler beaten with record average

Luke Humphries won Night 1 of the Premier League with a 6-1 demolition victory over Chris Dobey.

A brilliant night of action in Belfast saw the entertainment finish in style after world champion Luke Littler hit a record average in Northern Ireland of 113.91 in only the second game, but was still beaten by Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-final.

Humphries opened the final with a hold of throw on 128 as both players appeared to battle a draft on stage during the opening leg. The World No.1 soon followed up one ton-plus out with another – pinning double 10 to take a 2-0 lead with a 100 out. 2-0 soon became 3-0 with ‘Cool Hand’ on the rampage.

The World Masters champ continued the rout as he took out 28 following a 180 set-up. Humphries added another 100 out to take a 5-0 lead.

Dobey did avoid the whitewash with a ton-plus checkout of his own – finding the middle of the bull for a 126. But the respite wasn’t long, as Humphries returned to take out tops to seal the rout.

Incredibly, Dobey actually had the better average of 96.88 compared to Humphries’ 95.86. But Cool Hands’ monstrous 85.71% on the doubles saw the game quickly become a procession.

Humphries continued his momentum after lifting the World Masters at the weekend by flexing his muscles on the Premier League stage. ‘Cool Hand’ put Nathan Aspinall to the sword with a 6-2 demolition in the quarter-final – averaging 105.19 to the Asp’s 95.73.

But the semi-final was far from straightforward as he was let off the hook by a wasteful Michael van Gerwen. While MVG passed up multiple chances on the double during the game and fluffed set-ups, Humphries kept his cool to win a deciding leg.

Dobey beat Gerwyn Price 6-4 in a real quarter-final tussle to open the night and the tournament. ‘Hollywood’ then booked his final spot with a 6-4 victory over Rob Cross – where he reeled in the Big Fish.

Dobey made his return to the Premier League after previously appearing in the 2023 edition, finishing 7th after winning the opening night on debut. The former Masters champion made it all the way to the final again but fell at the final hurdle this time.

The table at the end of Night 1 paints an obvious picture with Humphries and Dobey 1st and 2nd respectively. Next Thursday’s action pits Dobey and Humphries up against each other again in the final quarter-final tie.