Luke Humphries hasn’t been overly impressed by Luke Littler at the 2025 World Darts Championship (Image: Getty)
Darts phenomenon has named Callan Rydz the one player that’s impressed him at the . The reigning world champion faces in the fourth round on Sunday, less than 48 hours after demolishing Nick Kenny to reach the last 16.
Fourth seed is also through to the last 16 and will meet Ryan Joyce after recovering from an early setback to . ‘The Nuke’ also had to overcome some early adversity to beat Ryan Meikle in his opener.
Speaking prior to his rival’s third-round victory over White, Humphries was quizzed about how much attention he’s paid the tournament when he’s not in action himself. And ‘Cool Hand’ mentioned Rydz as the surprise name who has put him on alert thus far.
“I’ve been watching it as a fan, so I’ve been watching a lot of the players,” Humphries told reporters following his dismantling of Kenny. “And I just kind of don’t really see anybody that’s really put their hand up and performed at an absolutely incredible level.
“The only one off [the top of my head] is Callan Rydz. I didn’t see that game but that’s the only one that’s really performed, to me. I mean Luke [Littler] had that incredible last set [against White] but before that he wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
“And none of us have! So I think there’s a lot of pressure on everyone this year. I think everybody’s sort of seeing an opportunity, and it’s kind of making everyone try too hard.”
Humphries was speaking prior to Littler’s third-round win over Ian White (Image: Getty)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Pro Tour talent Rydz has made headlines after sauntering through each of the first two rounds without dropping a single set. He set the highest average of the tournament to date after finishing on 107.06 in his opener against Romeo Grbavac, then made light work of Martin Schindler in another 3-0 win.
‘The Riot’ has another difficult task on his hands when he takes on UK Open titleholder Dmitri van den Bergh on Sunday. ‘The Dreammaker’ edged Humphries 11-10 to claim the title in Minehead back in March, hoping to improve upon his semi-final run at the 2023 World Darts Championship.
For Littler, meanwhile, the pressure is on to become the youngest world champion in darts history following last year’s runner-up finish. Not that he’ll care much for how he performs along the way if that’s the final outcome next month.
Humphries admitted he hasn’t been that impressive at Ally Pally either (Image: Getty)
It’s the same for Humphries, who went on to say he’s fine averaging in the high 90s provided he stays in the tournament. And it’s exactly that kind of pragmatism that saw him land the jackpot £500,000 grand prize this time 12 months ago.
“I’m not one of those people that averages 105, 105, 105 – but I do enough to win every time,” he continued. “And that’s all that matters. I’d rather be averaging 98, 99 and winning 4-0 than averaging 105 and I’m not here, I’m a loser.
“So I just do what matters, and when the top, top players turn up and I know I’m in for a real slog, that’s when I turn up. That’s when I’m at my best. That’s when I’m firing. So for me, I’m just one of those people that just wants to get the job done.”