Luke Humphries has gone back to the drawing board for 2025 (Image: Getty)
Luke Humphries isn’t having the old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Despite failing to defend his title following a surprise fourth round defeat to Peter Wright, still ended the tournament at the top of
A maiden World Matchplay triumph and a second Players Championship Finals crown cemented his place at the top of the world rankings. But Humphries wasn’t resting on his laurels going into 2025 as he opted to make big changes to his game, including a new set of arrows.
And they’re working well so far, with Humphries winning the first big tournament of the year at the World Masters after a dramatic final against Jonny Clayton. He is now aiming to win the for the first time after losing to in last year’s final.
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
“I’ve changed a lot of things about my game,” he said ahead of the opening night in Belfast on Thursday. “I’ve got a newer set of darts, new footwear. Last year, being world champion, I wanted to keep everything the same.
“Now I’m not, I can experiment and try different things. I decided to make the changes two thirds of the way through last year but I didn’t want to change anything at an important moment.
“At the back end of the year, you don’t want to be making big changes. I waited until the year was over. I’ve got nothing lose.
Luke Humphries after winning the World Masters (Image: PDC/Taylor Lanning)
“It’s not a different set of darts, just a newer version. I’d used the old ones for three years and they’d run their course a little bit. You lose that feel with them after a while so I needed a newer set. It won’t hinder me and I’ve played all right so far with them.”
As usual, line-up has with Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price making the cut ahead of the likes of recent first-team major winners Mike De Decker and Ritchie Edhouse. Clayton, Dave Chisnall and Damon Heta also missed out.
The lack of debutants has been criticised in some quarters but Humphries, who faces Aspinall in his quarter-final in Belfast, said: “Selfishly, I’m really happy with the line-up because I get on with most of them. I’m glad Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall are in it.
Luke Humphries was happy to see Nathan Aspinall picked for the Premier League (Image: Getty)
“I know there’s a lot of talk about who’s in and who’s not in, but is there anyone [among the wildcard contenders], apart from Stephen Bunting, who was really good for 12 months? Probably not.
“I don’t think Nathan, Chris or Gezzy [Price] were amazing but no one around them shone either. The PDC has got to pick what they think is best, and that’s what they’ve done.
“People moan about it at this time of year but once the competition starts, everyone forgets. It should be a really good .”