Defending World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries survived a first round scare against Stephen Bunting last night in Leicester. Despite winning 2-1, Stephen Bunting missed a match dart to whitewash the World Number 1.
Luke Humphries is the reigning World Grand Prix champion and came into the tournament defending his title with a tricky opening round tie against an in-form Stephen Bunting.
The pair met last week in the Players Championship 26 final which Humprhies would win but it was on the back of Stephen Bunting going to three consecutive finals that week.
See more – Stephen Bunting has astonishing run at Players Championships
This form looked to have carried over into this week as the man from St Helens would take a resounding lead in the match winning the first three legs (and set) in quick succession.
BRILLIANT FROM BUNTING!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 7, 2024
Stephen Bunting delivers a trio of combination finishes to complete a clean sweep against reigning champion Luke Humphries in set one!
What a start from The Bullet!
📺 https://t.co/BtWBaRnhB5#WGPDarts | R1 pic.twitter.com/QE67hNj3Nj
He would then win the next two legs to put himself into a position to whitewash the defending champion in what would have been one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
Unfortunately, Bunting would miss a match dart at D16 and that single miss was enough to allow a Humphries fightback.
After winning his first leg, Humphries held his nerve and went on to win the match 2-1, claiming he was a ‘fighter’ that would never give up.
He also revealed in his post game interview what Bunting said to him on missing his chance to whitewash the reigning champion…
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Humphries Doesn’t Think Stephen Bunting ‘Bottled It’ After Missing Match Dart at D16
HEROIC FROM HUMPHRIES! 👏
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 7, 2024
That is INCREDIBLE!
Luke Humphries produces an astonishing comeback to deny Stephen Bunting and begin his bid for back-to-back World Grand Prix titles!
📺 https://t.co/BtWBaRnhB5#WGPDarts | R1 pic.twitter.com/ro55Sl3o6B
After Humphries hit the match dart, the pair embraced on stage and when Humphries was asked what they had briefly talked about, he was hesitant to reveal the conversation before finally saying:
“He just said, ‘I bottled it’, but I don’t think he did to be honest, he missed one good dart and it didn’t go in for him.
“When you’re chasing the game it’s hard, I don’t believe he bottled it,he said that but I don’t think he did.
“It was just one unlucky dart, it looked like he threw it well, if it goes in then it’s 2-0 winner.”
Humphries was not deterred by the expectation placed on his as a defending champion and would further go on to say:
“These are the games you live for.
“Stephen was very unlucky there. He was the better player overall, but I never gave in, and that is a true champion’s attitude.
“As soon as I won the first leg, I knew the opportunity was there, and I worked incredibly hard to get myself back into the game.”
Luke Humphries will now face Ricardo Pietreczko in the second round after the German beat Raymond van Barneveld 2-1 on his debut match in the tournament.
You can see Humphries full post game interview provided by Online Darts below:
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