Luke Littler’s 12-game winning streak ended with a shock defeat to Niels Sonnefeld at the Belgian Darts Open, while Luke Humphries silenced his critics by defeating Johnny Clayton 8-6 to claim his first stage win since September.
Humphries produced a series of impressive performances on Sunday, defeating Germaine Watimena, Chris Dobey and Michael van Gerwen, and then Premier League leaders Creighton in the final to win his first career Belgian Darts Open and ninth European Tour title.
Humphries, ranked second in the world, defeated Wattimena 6-1 to advance to the quarter-finals, and despite missing 24 darts on a double, he advanced 6-5 against Dobby. However, he performed well on the night, clinching victory by beating Van Gerwen 7-2 with an average of 105.96 and a checkout of 129.
Creighton pushed Humphries early in the match and won the first leg, but it was Humphries who took control, posting 142 and 130 checkouts in the second and seventh legs, respectively, to take a commanding 6-1 lead over the Welshman and win six straight legs.
‘The Ferret’ put up a great fightback of his own, winning four of the next five legs, scoring an incredible 126 checkout against the bull in the leg after Humphries removed the bull himself with a combination finish of 132, leaving him just one shot away from victory.
But despite the Welshman’s late heroics, Humphries denied Clayton’s chance to decide the final leg as ‘Cool Hand’ clinched the title with a 13-dart leg.
“It’s one of those things where you feel like your game was going well and then it wasn’t and then it was again. The scoring was good but the doubles wasn’t and I was under pressure,” Humphries admitted after receiving the trophy.
“Usually in those situations I can finish the match much better, but when you’re not winning that much, it’s more difficult and you feel nervous.
“I ended up going over there because Johnny is one of the most underrated darts players in the world. He’s always there and you can’t shake it off. He has the perfect nickname (The Ferret) because he just stays there and never leaves. It’s a credit to him that he came back.”
“It’s great to be able to experience that feeling of victory again. It was a great trophy to win on a big stage.”
And the reigning Premier League champion added: “I’m going to keep trying, keep pushing, keep working hard. It’s like I’ve got to keep trying to keep the aura level up because I’ve got to keep trying to be the second best player in the world!”
Littler suffered a shocking defeat at Wiese.
Littler entered the tournament as the undefeated champion and was in a great mood after defeating Boris Krutschmar 6-2 in Saturday’s opener with an incredible performance averaging 104.70 points.
However, ‘The Nuke’ was unable to continue his love affair with Belgium as Dutchman Sonneveld produced a magical 147 checkout to defeat the world number one in a dramatic final leg decider earlier in the day.
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Dutchman Sonneveld achieves stunning comeback by defeating world No. 1 Littler
The back-to-back world champion averaged over 103, finishing at 122 and 136, but his reign ended as ‘Triple Z’ made a stunning comeback from a 3-1 deficit to book a place in the quarterfinals.
“It was more difficult than I thought before the game,” Sonnefeld said. “I always wondered why people thought that when they could beat him.
“I was in that position and it was really difficult, but in the end I got a great finish and beat him.
“I’m very relieved. They showed some real courage there. I’m very happy.”
After an exciting weekend of action, the 2026 Winamax European Tour resumes with the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich from April 4th to 6th.
Three-time world champion Van Gerwen is aiming for a second successive win at the Zenith in Munich, while Humphries is aiming for a second successive title in Germany.
Sunday, March 22nd
Afternoon session
round 3
Niels Sonnefeld 6-5 Luke Littler
Danny Knoppert 6-5 Ryan Searle
Johnny Clayton 6-5 Ross Smith
Andy Beitens 6-5 Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Chris Dobey 6-3 Kim Huybrecht
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Darryl Gurney
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Cristo Reyes
evening session
quarterfinals
Niels Sonnefeld 6-3 Danny Knoppert
Johnny Clayton 6-1 Andy Batens
Luke Humphries 6-5 Chris Dobbie
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Semi-final
Johnny Clayton 7-6 Niels Sonnefeld
Luke Humphries 7-2 Michael van Gerwen
final
Luke Humphries 8-6 Johnny Clayton
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Highlights of Luke Littler’s incredible comeback to beat Gerwyn Price on night seven of the Premier League in Dublin
What’s happening on the 8th night of the Premier League in Berlin?
Night eight of the BetMGM Premier League will take place in Berlin on Thursday, March 26th, with Littler taking on Bunting at the Mercedes-Benz Arena as he begins his bid for a third win of 2026.
League leaders Creighton face Lock in the opening game of the night, with Humphries and Van Gerwen also up against each other, while Price faces Van Veen for a place in the semi-finals.
14 of the 16 league games in the quarterfinals will be played in tie order, with games on nights 8 and 16 determined by league standings starting each night.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and you can watch the match every Thursday on Sky Sports until May. Stream darts and other top sports now.
