Luke Humphries feeling refreshed after ‘longest break at home in 15 months’

World champion Luke Humphries feels “refreshed and ready to go again” as he prepares to defend his Players Championship Finals title after making the most of some family downtime.

Humphries saw hopes of another Grand Slam of Darts success end with a shock exit in the group stages.

The early departure from Wolverhampton – where Luke Littler went on to win his first TV ranking title – allowed Humphries an extended break at home to refocus ahead of the build up to the World Championships, which begin on December 15.

“I am back with some really good feelings, after obviously not being in the (knockout stages) of the Grand Slam,” Humphries said in an interview with PDC media.

“Unfortunately you can’t win everything, sometimes you have to accept an early defeat will happen in major tournaments.

“I am not going to take anything from that and am just going to go into this tournament confident that I can retain it.

“I would have loved to have been there in the final and right until the end, but it was a blessing in disguise in a way.

“It is probably the longest break I have had at home for the last 15 months.

“I have really enjoyed it and got to spend some more time with my son, who doesn’t get to see his dad as much, so I fully embraced the time at home.

“I feel nice and refreshed and am looking forward to playing darts again now.

“It has sort of been a blur over the last 15 months when you are playing week in and week out every day.

“I didn’t pick the darts up for a full week. I put them down and thought ‘no, I am just going to take a good break from it’. Now I am refreshed and ready to go again.”

Humphries will open the defence of his Players Championship Finals title against Germany’s Gabriel Clemens in Minehead on Friday, which features a double session of action across two stages.

Last year’s runner-up Michael van Gerwen, a record seven-time winner of the event, starts against Ian White while Littler faces former world champion Rob Cross.

Chris Dobey is the event’s top seed after winning three Players Championship titles this year and takes on Nathan Aspinall in the opening round.