Humphries wins Belgian Open then makes 'second best' joke
· Yahoo Sports
Luke Humphries secured the Belgian Darts Open title with an 8-6 win over Jonny Clayton - then joked it would boost his attempts to become "the second-best player in the world".
World champion Luke Littler's surprise third-round exit to Niels Zonneveld paved the way for Englishman Humphries to clinch his ninth European Tour title with victory over Clayton.
Visit turconews.click for more information.
Humphries, 31, had squeezed past Chris Dobey 6-5 in the quarter-finals before he emphatically dispatched Michael van Gerwen 7-2 in the semi-finals.
Clayton won the opening leg in the final but Humphries reeled off the next six to take a commanding 6-1 lead only for the Welshman to stage a fightback.
However, Humphries denied Clayton the chance of a last-leg decider with a 13-darter to clinch the title in Wieze.
"It's one of them things where I feel my game's been there, then it's not, then it is," Humphries said on stage after a his win over Clayton.
"Usually in those circumstances I close the game out a lot better, but when you're not winning as much they become harder and you feel the nerves.
"I'm just dedicated and working so hard to push every dart player and be the best version of myself.
"I'm going to keep trying to be the second-best player in the world - apparently."
World number one Littler had earlier been knocked out after a 6-5 defeat by Zonneveld.
Littler was on a streak of 12 matches unbeaten in the tournament and was bidding for a hat-trick of victories in Wieze, having won the event in 2024 and 2025.
But the 19-year-old Englishman suffered his first defeat in a ranking event since last October at the hands of world number 39 Zonneveld of the Netherlands.
Zonneveld had trailed 3-1 to Littler, after the opening exchanges went against the throw, before he battled back to take a 4-3 lead.
The 27-year-old Dutchman missed three match darts in the 10th leg which allowed Littler to level the score with a 136 checkout.
However, Zonneveld then produced a superb 147 finish in the final-leg decider to secure a memorable victory over the Warrington teenager.
Belgian Darts Open results
Quarter-finals
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Danny Noppert
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Andy Baetens
Luke Humphries 6-5 Chris Dobey
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Semi-Finals
Jonny Clayton 7-6 Niels Zonneveld
Luke Humphries 7-2 Michael van Gerwen
Final
Luke Humphries 8-6 Jonny Clayton