Luke Humphries completed a memorable Gambrinus Czech Darts Open hat-trick with an 8-5 victory over Josh Rock in Sunday’s Prague showpiece.
Humphries – roared on by a sell-out crowd at the PVA Expo – celebrated his eighth European Tour crown with an impressive comeback win over Northern Ireland’s number one.
Rock punished a sluggish start from Humphries to establish a 3-1 cushion, before defying a terrific three-leg burst from the world number one to restore parity with a 153 checkout in leg eight.
However, Rock paid the price for spurning three darts to level at six apiece, as Humphries followed up a clinical 98 kill by pinning double ten to retain his title in the Czech capital.
“I feel a little bit emotional to be honest,” reflected Humphries, who also lifted the Czech Darts Open in 2022 and 2024. “I feel like every game I’ve played this weekend I’ve felt the love from the crowd.
“You don’t win three events in the same venue for no reason, so this is a special tournament for me.”
Following a below-par display against Dirk van Duijvenbode on Saturday, Humphries was much improved on Finals Day, opening Sunday’s play with a 6-3 success against Martin Schindler.
Humphries then averaged 103 to overturn a 5-3 deficit against Wessel Nijman, surviving a brace of match darts before demolishing James Wade 7-1 in the semi-finals.
The 30-year-old was without a big stage title since his US Darts Masters triumph in June, but he’s now confident of rediscovering his blistering best ahead of a defining period in his season.
“Since I’ve won the Premier League it’s been tough for me. I have been struggling, but it felt so good being up here tonight,” continued the 2023/24 World Champion. Now I feel dangerous again. This is when you need to be at your best, at the back end of the year.
“I know if I want to stay as world number one I have to put the effort in and work hard. I want to be World Champion again, so it all starts from now.”
Rock, meanwhile, defeated a hat-trick of Dutchmen to progress to his second straight European Tour final, kicking off proceedings with a 103 average and a 6-4 success against Michael van Gerwen on Sunday afternoon.
The 24-year-old then defied a 107 average from Jermaine Wattimena to close out a sensational 6-1 victory with a 110 average in the quarter-finals, which he backed up with a clinical 7-3 win over Gian van Veen in the last four.
“Luke and I didn’t play to our full potential there,” admitted the reigning World Cup of Darts champion.
“I never had a good record here in Prague, but now I’ve improved on that, and I’m happy with the last two weekends I’ve had.
“It’s not every day you make back-to-back European Tour finals, and I’ll get another title soon.
“I’m starting to be a proper dart player now, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year, so it's on to the next one!"
Van Veen performed superbly in his run to the semi-finals, dumping out World Champion Luke Littler and whitewashing Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals, despite the Welshman averaging 104.
The young Dutchman was joined in the last four by Wade, who overcame Nathan Aspinall, Ross Smith and Stephen Bunting at the PVA Expo to feature in his third consecutive European Tour semi-final.
Bunting fought back from 5-3 adrift to deny 2023 champion Peter Wright in booking his quarter-final berth, with Price and Dutch duo Nijman and Wattimena completing the last eight line-up.
Earlier in the day, Littler’s 19-match winning run on the big stage was halted by an impressive Van Veen, who ran out a 6-4 winner to record his third straight victory over the teenage wonderkid.
Following a sensational weekend of action in Prague, the Winamax European Tour continues with the Hungarian Darts Trophy (ET12) later this month, as Van Gerwen aims to retain his title in Budapest from September 19-21.
Czech Darts Open Results
Round One
- Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
- Madars Razma 6-3 Lukas Unger
- Andrew Gilding 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
- Cameron Menzies 6-3 Ian White
- Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Brendan Dolan
- Ryan Joyce 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
- William O'Connor 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
- Wessel Nijman 6-5 Richard Veenstra
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Cor Dekker
- Ryan Searle 6-2 Filip Manak
- Kevin Doets 6-4 Daryl Gurney
- Gian van Veen 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
- Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Jiri Brejcha
- Mike De Decker 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
- Niko Springer 6-5 Joe Cullen
Round Two
- Ross Smith 6-4 Andrew Gilding
- Martin Schindler 6-3 Madars Razma
- Wessel Nijman 6-5 Damon Heta
- Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Chris Dobey
- Gian van Veen 6-2 Danny Noppert
- Ryan Searle 6-4 Dave Chisnall
- Peter Wright 6-2 Benjamin Pratnemer
- Jonny Clayton 6-2 Ryan Joyce
- Rob Cross 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Gerwyn Price 6-2 Niko Springer
- Stephen Bunting 6-4 Kevin Doets
- James Wade 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
- Luke Humphries 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Luke Littler 6-2 Cameron Menzies
- Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Mike De Decker
- Josh Rock 6-2 William O'Connor
Round Three
- Luke Humphries 6-3 Martin Schindler
- Wessel Nijman 6-3 Rob Cross
- Stephen Bunting 6-5 Peter Wright
- James Wade 6-4 Ross Smith
- Gian van Veen 6-4 Luke Littler
- Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jonny Clayton
- Josh Rock 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
- Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Ryan Searle
Quarter-Finals
- Luke Humphries 6-5 Wessel Nijman
- James Wade 6-5 Stephen Bunting
- Gian van Veen 6-0 Gerwyn Price
- Josh Rock 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Semi-Finals
- Luke Humphries 7-1 James Wade
- Josh Rock 7-3 Gian van Veen
Final
- Luke Humphries 8-5 Josh Rock