Luke Humphries ended his 10-week wait for a Premier League nightly victory with a tense 6-5 win over Luke Littler in Leeds.
The 30-year-old, who had not won a final since beating Littler on Night 4 in Exeter, came from 2-0 down to beat ‘The Nuke’ in a thriller.
World number one Humphries averaged 100.96, with 18-year-old Littler at 99.89.
Wearing a Leeds United-inspired yellow and blue shirt at the First Direct Arena – days after his footballing heroes won the Championship title to mark their Premier League return in style – ‘Cool Hand Luke’ made a sluggish start as Littler took charge.
But Humphries, who was defending his Leeds crown from 12 months ago, then won three straight legs and edged 5-3 ahead.
As both mixed errors with brilliance in their performances, Littler hit back to take the match to a final-leg decider.
Both men missed bull finishes for 100-plus checkouts, but Humphries kept calm to hit double 10 and seal the much-needed success.
“When you know you’re playing against Luke Littler you know you’re not going to get away with mid-game performances, you need to be at your best to beat him,” he told Sky Sports.
“We weren’t at our best but it was a decent final and I do seem to raise my performance against him.
“It is extra special to win in Leeds, I feel at home here. I know it isn’t my hometown but it does feel extra special. I won here last year and it gave me extra confidence for the finals night and hopefully it does again – and I can get that elusive Premier League crown that I’ve always dreamed of.”
Humphries had earlier overcome bottom-of-the-table Stephen Bunting 6-4 in the semi-finals to set up a fourth Premier League final of the season against Littler.
A 6-4 win in the last eight over Michael van Gerwen also confirmed his place at finals night on May 29 at the 02 Arena, while Bunting’s defeat ruled him out of the finals reckoning.
Littler showed his quality in a convincing 6-3 semi-final victory over Gerwyn Price, where the defending Premier League champion came back from 2-0 down to dominate.
Price’s 6-5 quarter-final victory over Rob Cross had booked his place in the final four.
