Luke Humphries revealed he was ‘playing Call of Duty’ while Luke Littler won the Darts World Championship.
Following his fourth round loss to Peter Wright, Humphries turned his attention away from the sport.
The World No 1 was not tuned in to watch Littler make history as the then 17-year-old beat Michael van Gerwen.
In an interview with Premier League Darts, last year’s World Champion Humphries said: “I didn’t watch any of it. My life had been all about darts in December and I just wanted to switch it off for a little bit.
“I could actually wake up on the 31st and not think about darts for a change. I didn’t watch any of it, I just wanted to break away from it.”
Littler is a known gamer and fan of EA Sports FC, often streaming to thousands of viewers.
Humphries on the other hand was occupied by another game. “I was probably playing Call of Duty or something,” he said. “That’s something I like doing in my spare time.
“I checked on it every half-an-hour or so. When Luke went 4-0 up, I thought that was game over. He’s a bit like me, a great front-runner. I heard it wasn’t the most exciting final, but Luke did what he had to do. That’s the character he is.”
The 29-year-old wants to be refreshed and focused as he sets his sights on dominating darts this year.
Humphries’ first ranked event of the year is the World Masters in Milton Keynes where he will face Joe Cullen on Thursday for a spot in the second round.
With increased prize money after a lucrative new TV deal between the PDC and Sky every competitor has even more of an incentive to hunt down the No 1 spot.
“Me in 2023 (when Humphries won a host of majors) and me and Luke in 2024. Can we do it again? Yeah, possibly,” said the 29-year-old, who will team up with Littler for England at June’s World Cup of Darts.
“But there is a lot more incentive in darts now, with a lot more to play for with these new [TV] deals. The prize money is going to get bigger and there’s going to be a lot more pressure on certain moments.
“I think a lot more players are going to practice harder to try and reap the rewards. I’m expecting it to be a lot tougher this year for myself and Luke. We’ve got massive targets on our backs now. People want to beat us, and why wouldn’t they?”
Humphries set the Premier League as his competition to win this calendar year after previously losing 11-7 to his fellow gamer competitor.
Eight men will verse each other across a tour of the UK, Ireland and Europe across 17-weeks to crown the champion.
Speaking on the competition, he said: He said: “You’re away from home a lot and the travelling can be tough but it’s a cool thing to be involved in. No arguments from me, I loved playing in it.
“I would really like to win it, it would match up with the Worlds and the Match play. Not many people have won all three in their careers. It’s a great field with a lot of class and talent. It would be really special to win it.”
