Luke Humphries nails nine-darter against Stephen Bunting at overseas exhibition event | Other | Sport

Luke Humphries treated raucous darts fans to a nine-darter during a recent exhibition event in Germany.

The 2024 world champion produced the perfect leg against Stephen Bunting on Friday, with two maximums followed by a blockbuster 141 checkout to spark flailing limbs at the Buderus Arena.

Darts fanatics had gathered for the Wetzlar Darts Gala – an exhibition event attended by the likes of Humphries, Bunting, Adrian Lewis, Jonny Clayton and Martin Schindler. And the place erupted when Humphries executed a feat he has only managed four times during his competitive career, with the world No. 1 posting a series of reaction videos to his Instagram story.

The 29-year-old hit three nine-darters in the space of just over two months in 2023, leading up to his maiden world title win. He nailed another at the Baltic Sea Darts Open against Rob Cross last year.

But he has been forced to sit back and watch while others take the plaudits in recent months. Christian Kist and Damon Heta both hit one at this year’s World Darts Championship, collecting a £60,000 bonus from PaddyPower in the process.

Humphries’ latest heroics came with no such reward, but he will still have received a handsome pay packet for taking part in the well-attended exhibition event in Wetzlar, Germany.

Darts stars competed in a relaxed atmosphere, with Schindler getting on the microphone to introduce Humphries to the crowd before their match, and Bunting warmly applauding ‘Cool Hand’ after his nine-dart feat.

Humphries will be keen to put some good results on the board when he returns to competitive action, having faltered in his world title defence by losing to Peter Wright in the last 16 at Ally Pally. His first shot at redemption lies at the Bahrain Darts Masters this coming Thursday and Friday.

Luke Littler goes in as the defending champ, while fellow big hitters like Bunting, Cross, Gerwyn Price and Chris Dobey will also be fighting for the win. All five of them, plus Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall, will take part in this season’s Premier League Darts.

Littler is again the man to beat, having defeated Humphries in last year’s final. The action will get underway at the SSE Arena in Belfast on February 6, followed by 15 further nights and the play-offs in London at the end of May.