Luke Humphries beats Josh Rock to successfully defend Czech Open title

World number one Luke Humphries beat Josh Rock 8-5 at the PVA Expo in Prague to successfully defend his Czech Open title.

Rock had defeated Michael van Gerwen en route to the final and looked well placed to challenge for the title when he got an early break of throw to go 2-0 up in the final.

Humphries recovered to register a 12-dart leg to level things at 3-3 then, after the game had gone to 5-5, took three consecutive legs to leave himself on the brink.

A finely-executed final leg was enough to put down a brave challenge from Rock and claim the £30,000 prize.

It was an eighth PDC European Tour title of his career for the 30-year-old as he won in Prague for the third time in four years following victories in 2022 and 2024.

“If it were up to me, I’d have all 14 European Tours held here. You don’t win three times in the same place by accident and it’s clearly special to me,” Humphries said.

“Since winning the Premier League, the past three months have been tough. I’ve struggled at times and I felt like I dragged Josh down at the start of the game. But I never give in – I always try to find a way.”

World champion Luke Littler was earlier knocked out in the third round, suffering a surprise 6-4 defeat by Dutchman Gian van Veen.