World ranked No.70 beats Luke Humphries and darts’ best to win maiden PDC title

Niko Springer was world ranked No.70 heading into the Hungarian Darts, but the German defied the odds to knock out Luke Humphries and win a maiden European Tour title

Niko Springer knocked out Luke Humphries on his way to winning his first European Tour title in the Hungarian Darts Trophy.

The 25-year-old German entered the tournament as the world-ranked No.70 but defied the odds to stun some of darts’ biggest names en route to the final, where he beat Luke Littler’s semi-final victor Danny Noppert 8-7 in a deciding leg.

Springer landed his first PDC Tour title and the £30,000 winner’s cheque in Budapest. He also moved up to world-ranked No.66 and gave himself a major boost in his chances of being in the World Grand Prix next month.

The Mainz-native beat an incredible list of PDC stars on the way to final, knocking out Gian van Veen, Damon Heta, Rob Cross, Luke Humphries and Josh Rock to make the final.

There, he came from 5-3 down against Noppert, checking out 120 to break throw and level at 5-5. Springer was then forced to break again to move the game to 6-6 before he hit double eight to win the match.

“I am over the moon to be honest,” Springer said. “It was a tough game. I took my chances and I am very happy, I can’t believe it.

“I think we both just wanted to win the game. I don’t think I have any more words I am just so happy.”

Noppert, who was also chasing his first European Tour title, beat Littler 7-4 in the semi-final and hit seven 180s in defeat against Springer.

In his semi-final, Springer again won on a deciding leg against Rock, beating the in-form Northern Irishman on double four.

Springer also took down Humphries in the quarter-final, sealing a 6-4 win with back-to-back 11 darters.

Meanwhile, Littler received a bye to the semi-final after his quarter-final opponent Gerwyn Price withdrew from the last eight due to illness.

The next major on offer is the World Grand Prix, which gets underway in Leicester on October 6. The top 32 players in the PDC world ranking will be joined by the best 16 on the PDC ProTour Order of Merit, excluding those players in the top 32 rankings.

Springer is currently ranked No.28 on the ProTour but is set to be among the 16 qualifiers thanks to his triumph in Budapest.