LUKE HUMPHRIES has revealed a big change to his preparations for the World Dart Championship after his “longest break” from the sport.
The planet’s No1 slinger is looking to defend his title at Ally Pally next month following his epic final against Luke Littler last January.
But Humphries recently suffered a shock early exit at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.
The ace went into the tournament as favourite after winning last year’s competition.
Yet he crashed out of the group stages with some disastrous performances.
And Humphries watched on from home as rival Littler stormed to his first-ever ranking TV title.
Pundit Wayne Mardle now reckons Littler is the man to beat at the upcoming Worlds.
But Humphries is feeling more than ready after getting to spend some time relaxing.
The ace admits he has been able to refresh mentally and physically with the longest break he’s had in over a year.
And that new style of preparation has put him in good stead to remind everyone why he is darts’ top dog.
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Humphries, who defends his Darts Players Championship title this weekend, said: “I am back with some really good feelings, after obviously not being in the (knockout stages) of the Grand Slam.
“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.”
