Luke Humphries ended a five-match losing streak against rival Luke Littler to reach the final at night six of the Premier League in Nottingham. The world champion had not beaten the teenager since last season's Premier League final at the O2 in London, but prevailed in a last-leg decider with a dramatic 128 checkout.
Humphries was the better player throughout the contest and had earlier missed three match darts to win more comfortably. Littler had entered the arena by reminding the locals of Nottingham Forest's defeat in their Europa League tie at the City Ground, but like Forest, his night ended in defeat.
Humphries will face Jonny Clayton in the final, who reached the showpiece despite being struck down by gout in his foot. The Welshman could barely walk around the stage after being diagnosed with the inflammatory arthritis condition, but there was nothing wrong with his throw as he followed up a quarter-final win over Michael van Gerwen with a semi-final victory against Stephen Bunting.
Littler had earlier won the match of the night, beating Gerwyn Price 6-5 in the quarter-finals. It was a high-quality encounter where both men peppered the treble 20 bed, and the teenager extended his dominance over Price to 11 wins in their last 12 meetings.
Josh Rock's miserable debut campaign continued as he was hammered 6-1 by fellow struggler Bunting, meaning he has lost all six of his matches. Clayton cemented his position at the top of the league table after reaching his third nightly final.
