What a year this has been for Luke Humphries, as he won his second Euro Tour title of 2022 after beating Rob Cross 8-5 in the Final of the Czech Darts Open.
Cool Hand takes home the £25,000 ranking money after picking up the same amount as his win in Munich earlier on in the year.
Humphries averaged 100.34 in the Final and found five maximums in comparison to Cross’ three on the Prague stage.
He certainly did not mess about after breaking former world champion Cross in the opening leg of the match, hitting tops on his third time of asking to lead 1-0.
Humphries continued to threaten in the Final and took a 3-1 lead after hitting double eight with his first dart.
Voltage prior to that missed a dart at the bull for a 130 checkout, and he missed another three in leg five which was punished by Cool Hand who hit double sixteen to lead 4-1.
That seemed to spur Rob Cross on, as he found a brilliant 145 checkout to break straight back, hitting tops after Humphries missed the bull for a 167 checkout.
World Number 10 Cross found a second ton plus checkout in leg nine, as he hit double sixteen to finish 112 to go within one of Humphries in the Final, which seemed to rattle his opponent as he missed four darts at double in the next leg, allowing Voltage to break on double ten with his last dart to level the match at 5-5.
From then on, Humphries took full control winning the remaining three legs finishing 78 on tops in leg eleven to break his opponent, before hitting double six with his second dart to win his second Euro Tour title of the year.
Humphries also enjoyed a win against a resurgent Jose de Sousa in the Semis, with de Sousa finally finding his first real signs of form of the year after enduring a very difficult start. Both players averaged just shy of a hundred in the Semi with Humphries finishing the big fish in leg seven to take a 6-1 lead.
The Special One had his own ton plus checkout in the tenth leg, finishing 132 on the bull to break the Humphries throw and save himself from defeat. Ironic enough, it was a ton plus checkout that finished the match as well, with Cool Hand finished 101 on double sixteen to book his spot in the Final.
Humphries beat last weeks European Darts Open champion Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in the Quarter Finals with four maximums and a 98.65 average, as he finished 84 on double twelve in two darts to seal the win and deny Mighty Mike even more success on the European circuit.
Vincent van der Voort reached the Semi Finals in his best performance of a Euro Tour event this year. The Dutch Destroyer fell short against Rob Cross, losing 7-4, despite finishing 85 on double fourteen to take an early 3-0 lead in Prague.
Van der Voort had beaten home favourite Adam Gawlas in the Quarter Finals with a 90.11 average, in a match that included five maximums with three to the Czech international. Gawlas gave the crowd something to cheer about, as he finished a thirteen-dart leg on double tops to lead 2-1 on the oche.
The Dutchman booked his spot in the Semi-Finals after hitting 67 on tops with his last dart, as he broke Gawlas in the eighth leg to win 6-2, bringing the fairy tale run to an end for the Czech Republic star.
The Premier League returns on Thursday with the race for the Play-Offs beginning to heat up after Gerwyn Price’s victory in Sheffield last week.
Czech Open 2022: Results
Quarter-Finals
Jose de Sousa (3) 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Luke Humphries (10) 6-4 Michael van Gerwen (2)
Rob Cross (5) 6-4 Ross Smith
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Semi-Finals:
Luke Humphries (10) 7-4 Jose de Sousa (3)
Rob Cross (5) 7-4 Vincent van der Voort
Final:
Luke Humphries (10) 8-5 Rob Cross (5)
—–ENDS—–
Words: Harry Masterson
Images: Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe
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