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As it happened: Humphries stuns Van Gerwen to win Players Championship title

Updated
Luke Humphries beat Michael van Gerwin to win his first Players Championship Finals crown
Luke Humphries beat Michael van Gerwin to win his first Players Championship Finals crownProfimedia
Luke Humphries won six legs in a row to stun defending champion Michael van Gerwen 11-9 and lift the Players Championship Finals title for the first time. Recap all the action with the Darts Tracker below.

22:35 GMT - What a night for Humphries! After winning the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals, all eyes will be on whether he can lift the greatest prize of them all - the World Darts Championship, which gets underway at London’s Alexandra Palace next month.

You can follow the draw on Flashscore tomorrow from 4:30pm.

22:23 GMT - Speaking after lifting the Players Championship Finals trophy just 50 days after winning his first ever professional title, Humphries told ITV4: "It’s been the toughest period of my life. I was so tired. I felt like I had nothing to give. To stand here with my third major title, I have no words.

"It means I’m the best player in the world!" the 28-year-old added. "Michael was fantastic. To beat Michael in the final is what I always dreamed of. This means the most to me."

22:15 GMT - After both Van Gerwen and Humphries fail with two attempts to win the 20th leg, the Englishman holds his nerve and hits the double one to win Players Championship Finals for the first time! 

What a comeback! From 9-5 down, the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts champion wins 11-9!

22:13 GMT - Humphries hits the double ten and is one leg away! He leads 10-9!

22:10 GMT - What a comeback we have here! Humphries pulls it back to 9-8 and then takes the 18th leg - his fourth in a row - to level scores at 9-9!

The crowd erupt!

22:01 GMT - Humphries holds the 13th leg as van Gerwen does the same with the 14th. It’s 9-5, and the Dutchman is just two legs away.

21:57 GMT - Humphries smiles in frustration as he hits a 60 as van Gerwen goes on to extend his lead to 8-4.

21:52 GMT - Humphries hits a double 10 to pull it back to 5-4, but misses a double 18 allowing van Gerwin to regain his two leg lead. 6-4 at the break.

The Englishman has a 30.77% check-out rate compared to van Gerwen’s 50%.

21:44 GMT - Van Gerwen, in his ninth final over the last 11 years, has stormed into a 4-2 lead. He looks imperious.

21:38 GMT - The Dutchman, in his 60th PDC final, has broken Humphries to lead 3-2 with a nine-darter!

He’s averaging 112.83 compared to Humphries’ 95.49.

21:33 GMT - Van Gerwen and Humphries both hold their opening legs - 1-1.

21:30 GMT - And we’re underway in the final!

Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries, the top two ranked players - world number three and four - battle it out for the coveted Players Championships Finals title.

20:40 GMT - It’s all over! Humphries hits the double eight and makes his third PDC final with a thumping 11-3 win over Joyce.

The newly crowned World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts champion will be up against Michael Van Gerwen, who is looking to win his eighth Players Championship title.

The final gets underway at 21:30 GMT.

20:38 GMT - Too little to late? Joyce holds his throw to reduce the lead to 9-3. This will be a historic comeback if Joyce makes it to the final.

20:30 GMT - Humphries clears 124 to take an 8-2 lead and is just three legs away from the final.

20:27 GMT - Joyce is struggling to score highly enough. He falls 6-2 down and is averaging 89.91 at the oche compared to Humphries’ 103.41.

20:17 GMT - Humphries rattles off the next two legs and leads 3-2 at the break. Joyce needs to keep his focus or else this semi-final will quickly slip away.

20:14 GMT - Humphries misses a double ten and Joyce takes the early chance to lead 2-1. There’s a long way to go, but that’ll do wonders for any nerves.

20:11 GMT - Humphries wins the opening leg and Joyce holds his nerve to take the next. 1-1.

20:05 GMT - Humphries - the world number four - is looking to make his third PDC final appearence while Joyce is eyeing his first. We're all set - and we're underway!

19:59 GMT - Van Gerwen hits a double eight and reaches the final with a straightforward 11-6 win over Clemens.

The defending champion is looking to claim his eighth Players Championship title later this evening, but who will he face? The other semi-final between Luke Humphries and Ryan Joyce is coming up! 

19:49 GMT - Ruthless! Van Gerwen, the world number three, takes a 10-5 lead with a bullseye and is just one away from the final.

19:46 GMT - Clemens fails to hit a double ten with six darts and Van Gewen snatches the 13th leg. It’s 8-5.

He then holds his throw to take a 9-5 lead.

19:43 GMT - Van Gerwen looks very comfortable as he takes a 7-5 lead. The Dutchman is hitting an average of 103.89 compared to Clemens’ 94.86. 

He just needs to defend his throws and he’ll be in the final.

19:34 GMT - Both players are holding throws with van Gerwen taking a 5-3 and then 6-4 lead.

19:18 GMT - Van Gerwen takes a 3-1 lead over Clemens and is leading the way in all the key stats so far, including having a whopping 75% check-out success rate.

What can Clemens do about this.

19:05 GMT - And we're underway!

19:00 GMT - Welcome back to the Players Championships in Minehead.

Michael van Gerwen narrowly beat Stephen Bunting 10-9 in this afternoon’s first quarter-final and will face Gabriel Clemens in the opening semi-final this evening after the German beat Luke Woodhouse 10-7.

In the other semi-final, Luke Humphries came through an all-English quarter-final against James Wade 10-7 and is drawn against Ryan Joyce, who won the last four legs of his clash with Damon Heta to go through 10-6.

16:55 GMT - Tonight’s semi-finals are set:

Michael van Gerwen v Gabriel Clemens (19:10 GMT)

Luke Humphries v Ryan Joyce (20:10 GMT)

16:50 GMT - Incredible! After Heta levels the match at 6-6, Joyce takes the next four legs without reply to reach the semi-finals with a 10-6 win.

16:40 GMT - Heta takes the next leg with a stunning bullseye to finish!

16:32 GMT - Drama! Joyce takes a 6-4 lead after Heta misses three darts on a double two that would have levelled their quarter-final at 5-5.

16:26 GMT - Heta is making a match of this, taking the next two legs to make it 4-3. What can Joyce do here?

16:16 GMT - Joyce takes a 4-0 lead before Heta hits back for the first leg in the match. It's 4-1 - and time a short break.

16:11 GMT - Joyce has made a flying start, hitting a double eight to take a 3-0 lead.

16:05 GMT - And we're underway in our final quarter-final: Damon Heta v Ryan Joyce

16:00 GMT - As a reminder, here are the quarter-final results so far:

Quarter-final 1: Stephen Bunting 9-10 Michael van Gerwin

Quarter-final 2: Luke Woodhouse 7-10 Gabriel Clemens

Quarter-final 3: James Wade 7-10 Luke Humphries

15:55 GMT - Humphries will face the winner of Australian debutant Damon Heta and England's Ryan Joyce, which gets underway in 10 minutes.

15:52 GMT - And Humphries takes it on a double two with a nervy final throw - after hitting the eight, and four.

15:51 GMT - Now it's Humphries' turn, taking the next three legs for a 9-7 lead - he's one leg away from the semi-final.

15:45 GMT - But wait! Wade fights back once again and leads for the first time! 7-6.

15:35 GMT - After taking a 4-3 and 4-3 lead, Humphries hits two 180s on his way to taking the tenth leg 6-4.

15:27 GMT - Wade has fought back to take the next two legs to tie at 3-3.

15:15 GMT - Humphries, the world number 4, has stormed into a 3-1 lead after a sensational 10-dart opening leg.

15:00 GMT - We're away!

14:55 GMT - We're five minutes away from the third quarter-final clash, and an all-English match between James Wade and Luke Humphries.

14:50 GMT - And Clemens takes it - the world number 23 is through to the last four where he will face van Gerwin. 

14:49 GMT - What an incredible three legs! Woodhouse fights back to close the gap to 6-8 and 7-8, but Clemens wins the 16th leg to be one away from the semi-final.

14:43 GMT - Clemens is two legs away from the semi-finals after Woodhouse lost his thows at 4-7 and 5-8. The world number 36 will need to produce an almighty comeback now.

14:35 GMT - Woodhouse is struggling with any momentum, winning one leg before losing the next. It's 4-6.

14:27 GMT - Woodhouse holds his nerve to make it 2-2, but Clemens fights back to lead 5-3.

14:00 GMT - And we're off. Who will join van Gerwin in the last four? Both Woodhouse and Clemens hold their first throws before Clemens wins the third leg and a 2-1 lead.

13:56 GMT - Next up, Luke Woodhouse v Gabriel Clemens

13:54 GMT - The Dutchman is through to the semi-finals 9-10 with a win - clinching it with a 125 check-out!

13:52 GMT - Van Gerwin hits two 180s to tie at 9-9!

13:15 GMT - Van Gerwin stormed into a 2-0 and 5-3 lead, but Bunting fought back to win six of the next seven games to take a 9-6 lead!

12:45 GMT - We're underway in the first quarter-final with Bunting against van Gerwin. It's the best of 19, so the first to 10.

Quarter-finals

12:45 GMT: Stephen Bunting v Michael van Gerwin

14:00 GMT: Luke Woodhouse v Gabriel Clemens

15:00 GMT: James Wade v Luke Humphries

16:05 GMT: Damon Heta v Ryan Joyce

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