LUKE HUMPHRIES has revealed he “loves” Luke Litter as the pair always have a weekly catch-up at the Premier League Darts.
World No1 ‘Cool Hand Luke’ came out on top at Night 15 in Leeds, defeating Michael van Gerwen in the final for victory at his home event.
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Before beating Van Gerwen in a deciding leg Humphries defeated Littler 6-1 in the semi-final.
After his win at the First Direct Arena Humphries shut down any notion of animosity between himself and the 17-year-old.
He said: “I love him to be honest, I think Luke is fantastic,” Humphries said. “I get on really well with him.
“A lot of media outlets paint a different picture, me and Luke Litter are fanatic friends. We get along really well.”
Humphries changed his walk-on song in honour of his club Leeds United with Kaiser Chiefs’ ‘I Predict A Riot’ anthem as the Championship team are in the run for promotion.
With a home crowd behind him, Humphries recorded his fourth nightly win of the season and could become the first player in the competition’s history to win five in a single year.
Littler is also on track to break that record but Humphries confirmed there was no rivalry between the pair and they would take time out of their preparations for the night to discuss their week on stage.
Humphries continued: “Every time we walk in this arena we always have a little thing together.
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“We get up on the stage and have a practice, have a chat for 20 minutes or whatever, have a little talk about what’s gone on in the week and that’s our thing.
“Everyone can paint the picture of ‘we’re rivals’, nah. We are rivals, we want to beat each other, but you will never get the negativity between us both because we get on really well and that’s it.
“He respects me and I respect him as an unbelievable talent up there, but the way he has dealt with himself this year has been absolutely amazing.
“His family should be very proud to be honest, because he has shown a lot of grit, a lot of determination and shown a lot of people that he deserves to be here.
“My dream would be to play him in the final because whoever won out of us two, I would be happy for him and if I won I am sure he would be happy for me.”
Humphries and Littler’s had already secured play-off spots with Van Gerwen now joining them following his run to the final in Leeds.
The final place is to be decided in the last week of the regular season and it is between Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith.
