2023 Mr. Vegas Grand Slam of Darts – Finals Day

On another superb day of darts, Luke Humphries added the Grand Slam of Darts title to the World Grand Prix he won a few weeks ago. The man from Berkshire beat James Wade 16-10 in the Semi, and then cruised to a 16-8 victory against former World Champ Rob Cross i a high-quality final. Both players averaged over 103 a turn.

The Semi-final looked like being a close-fought affair as Wade pocketed four of the first six legs. He should have been 6-3 ahead, but some missed doubles allowed Humphries to pull back to 5-5. Humphries took the next three before Wade posted a nice 12-darter (with a 134 check) to stop the rot. Soon, it was 8 legs apiece.

From there, Humphries stepped up a gear and dominated the rest of the match, recording a 15, four 14’s, a 12, and an 11-dart leg to head to the final.

The Bunting/Cross Semi-Final was a tight one. At 4-4, there was nothing to choose between the two, and both had already posted 12-darters. An 11 put Cross 6-4 ahead, only for the Liverpudlian to reply in 12 darts. An 11 from the latter tied the score at 7-7. The 2018 PDC World Champ took the next four to put Bunting under pressure. From there, Cross just had to stay calm and not lose too many legs he started. He didn’t.

On to the Final.

Humphries won the first two in 14 and 12. Cross won the next two in 12 and 14. This was followed by three more 14’s, an 11, and then a 12. Unfortunately for Cross, these all went to his opponent! The Kent man posted another 12-darter, but this only closed the gap to within six legs of Humphries. 39 darts (11, 15, 13) later, it was 13-4, but Cross pulled one back in 11. He hit another 11 soon after – but that only made it 14-7.

Humphries was rapidly approaching the finish line, and in three legs time, he crossed it…

An incredible match, and as Cross said later on X (formerly Twitter), “What can I say? A 103.61 average and a 170 finish, and still losing 16-8 in a final!”

I can’t add anything to that…

Full details from the PDC website here

You must be logged in to post a comment Login