Luke Humphries speaks out on whistling and issues apology after Luke Littler thrashing

Luke Littler got revenge over Luke Humphries in Cardiff on his Premier League debut

Luke Humphries has revealed that he was ‘gutted’ with the whistling from the crowd during his defeat to Luke Littler on the opening night of the Premier League tour. The reigning world No 1 was thrashed 6-2 by Littler in a rematch of last month’s World Darts Championship final but the occasion was marred by fans whistling during Humphries’ throwing action.

One spectator appeared to irk Humphries with a few whistles as the crowd began to turn on him during the closing stages of the match. In the eighth leg, he turned around and shook his head in anger following a missed double 16 that would have kept him in the match.

Humphries has since explained that although he was ‘gutted’ with the whistling, he will need to learn to block it out to ensure that it will not affect him next time. He also issued an apology for his defeat to Littler, which saw him crash out in the quarter-finals on his Premier League debut.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Humphries wrote: “So sorry tonight guys. Was so looking forward to playing in the amazing city of Cardiff. I was gutted with the whistling, but I know that I have to learn to get better at that! Well done Luke for a fantastic debut game! I will work hard for the rest of the tournament.”

Littler went on to lose to Michael Smith in the semi-finals, with the latter edging the decisive leg to claim a 6-5 triumph over his teenage opponent. Smith ended up winning the final against home favourite Gerwyn Price to mark the perfect start to his Premier League campaign, cruising to a one-sided 6-2 victory.

targeted at the next time of asking, with the world champion set to face Peter Wright in Berlin later this month. Littler, meanwhile, will go up against Rob Cross as he looks to return to winning ways following his defeat at the hands of Smith.