World Darts Championship final - Humphries triumph is the luck of wunderkind Littler
At the moment of greatest triumph, Luke Humphries slumped on stage at Alexandra Palace as if the air had been let out of his body. All body tension was blown away, Humphries dropped to his knees, his head slumped forward and tears streamed down his cheeks. It was this one moment that Humphries had all to himself, his opponent Luke Littler, the much-acclaimed darts prodigy, almost seemed to disappear in the background. At least that was the impression you got when you watched the great World Championship final on TV.
Humphries, 28 years old and currently by far the best darts pro on the planet, had beaten the 16-year-old prodigy Littler. He had turned a 2:4 deficit after sets into a 7:4, after it had looked for a while that he would break against Littler's youthful power and genius. Humphries overcame the weak phase and left his opponent no chance in the end.
Reminiscent of Nadal and Federer
Just how much energy the final had cost him became clear at the latest when he fell to his knees. But just a few moments later, Humphries got up again, went to Littler, hugged him warmly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. They had given each other nothing and their mutual respect for each other was clear to see.
As one of the tournament's big favorites, Humphries had to live with the fact that a 16-year-old was getting almost all the attention. But he didn't grumble or play the offended diva, on the contrary, like many other professionals and ex-players he showed how much he admired Littler's outstanding talent. It was somewhat reminiscent of the greatest moments between tennis players Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Their epochal duels always thrived on the fact that they admired each other and expressed this.
Humphries spoke of Littler in his first answer in the winner's interview with Sky TV: "Luke is an incredible talent, you'll never see another 16-year-old like him. I hope he's in the Premier League. He's one of the best in the world. There's no doubt about that." And added with slight irony: "I had to get the World Cup title now, because he'll definitely be there in the next few years."
The "hypetrain" has slowed down
Humphries is probably right with his prediction. By reaching the World Championship final in London, Littler has catapulted himself to the top of the darts world and will probably not disappear again so quickly if he continues to develop his talent. Whether he will actually be the great dominator of the future remains to be seen, of course. Humphries and other top players will have their say.
Perhaps Humphries' greatness also lies in the fact that he did Littler a favor by winning. If Littler had become world champion, the darts world would have exploded. And Littler might have gone crazy. Comparisons with soccer genius Lionel Messi were already the order of the day, David Beckham wished Littler all the best and English professional footballers took selfies with the prodigy. The whole of England watched in fascination as the "hypetrain" raced through Ally Pally, with TV ratings skyrocketing the further Littler progressed in the tournament. The number of super-talented players who have been burnt out early in sport is legendary.
The defeat slowed down the "hypetrain". This can be an advantage for the development of a soon-to-be 17-year-old super-talented player.
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Source: www.stern.de
