A rare counting error proved costly for Luke Humphries during his Premier League Darts clash against Luke Littler in Nottingham. The two familiar foes were facing off in the opening match of the night, with Littler continuing his impressive form with a 6-4 victory over the world No.1. 

Neither player was able to get away from the other in the early stages of their night six clash, with Littler and Humphries splitting the first eight legs evenly between them. But it was in the eighth leg where things began to go wrong for Humphries. 

Humphries – who was 4-3 ahead – had left just 265 after three visits to the board, with his first dart of the fourth visit also finding the treble 20 bed. He went in search of two more trebles with his next two darts, but could only find the single 20 segment, meaning he’d left 165.

The problem for the 2024 world champion was that 165 is a bogey number, and therefore, he wasn’t able to leave a finish for himself. Littler, sensing a route back into the contest, piled the pressure on during his next visit, hitting three perfect darts to score a 180. 

Even though Littler was sat only one point behind Humphries on 164, the Nuke hadn’t accidentally stumbled onto a bogey number and did have a shot at a finish on his next visit. He took it out in stylish fashion, hitting a treble 20 and treble 18, before pinning the bulls-eye to level the contest up at 4-4. 

Humphries, by this point well aware of the mistake he’d made, was seen letting out a gigantic sigh, while congratulating his competitor on the showstopping finish. It proved the turning point of the match though, given Littler went on to win the next two legs and secure progression into the semi-finals. 

It was the latest installment of the biggest current rivalry in darts, with former world champion John Part waxing lyrical about the pair ahead of the clash. He said during the Sky Sports coverage: “They’re one and two in the world, obviously the past two world champions and they’re playing like it.” 

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