LUKE HUMPHRIES had to shake off the distractions of a misbehaving crowd member during his victory over Luke Littler last night.
Humpries, 29, beat his familiar foe Littler 11-7 in a thrilling matchup that saw Cool Hand Luke retain his Players Championship trophy.
The back and forth final was an entertaining affair that left fans frothing at the mouth for what’s to come with the World Championship now just around the corner.
But it was also marred by some crowd trouble as referee Charlie Corstorphine was forced to intervene during the 14th leg of the match.
Supporters in the crowd at Minehead were whistling as Humphries stepped up to the oche, seemingly trying to throw off the now seven-time major champion.
Referee Corstorphine gave a firm warning to the members of the audience who were at fault during the 14th leg, loudly saying: “Stop whistling, thank you”.
Humphries was clearly impacted by the distraction as ITV4 commentator John Rawling labelled the star as “furious”.
But he didn’t let the whistling hurt his chances of success, turning around an early 4-1 deficit to beat 17-year-old Littler.
Darts fans at home were just as disappointed in the whistling antics of the crowd and took to social media to slam the supporter to blame.
One wrote: “Some match this but the disrespect towards Humphries is a joke. Whoever is whistling needs kicked out immediately.”
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While another added: “Get these darts casuals out of the crowd. Whistling whilst Humphries is throwing. Just not what darts is about ffs”.
A third commented: “Crowds get worse each tournament. They genuinely think it’s all about them”.
And a fourth simply posted: “Kick him out!”
Fortunately the referee’s intervention did stop the whistling as Humphries and Littler put on a show for the fans.
Humphries and Littler could meet again soon with the draw for the World Championship taking place today.
The highly anticipated competition gets underway on December 15 with Humphries hoping to defend his title after beating Littler in the final last year.
However, the pair’s world rankings mean that they will be seeded on the same side of the draw this year – preventing fans from being able to watch yet another dramatic final pairing between them both.
The sport’s in-form superstars could meet in the semi-final, however.
