Everyone says they want a good solid test at this stage of the tournament. Keep the skills sharp, keep the mind keen. But how big a test? How tough? How many beats per minute? How much spinal fluid do you want to shed? How close do you really want to get to smelling the paint on the exit door?
Luke Humphries reckons he got it about right here, and for now we will have to take his word for it. But the outpouring of emotion we saw at the conclusion of his 4-2 win over Gabriel Clemens was a measure of just how thoroughly the 2024 world champion had been rattled by a man whose game had basically been in hibernation for the past three years.
It was in 2023 that Clemens unexpectedly reached the semi-finals, catalysing a revolution in German darts in which everyone assumed he would play a leading part. Instead, his game disintegrated alarmingly. He stopped qualifying for the majors, didn’t even make Germany’s World Cup team and by the end of this year was ranked No 47 in the world and in a genuine fight for his 2027 tour card.
But on Sunday, in a room packed with roaring German package tourists, he waddled back on to this stage and unleashed the pure magic of which he has always been capable. From trailing 3-0, by the end he had three darts to level a scintillating game at 3-3. He averaged 115.6 in the fourth set, 101.5 overall, the first ever German to clock a three-figure average at the world championships. He may still be No 47 in the world, by dint of the sport’s maddeningly inelastic ranking system. But he now knows to expect better.
What to make of Humphries in the meantime? On one hand, the ability to prevail under immense pressure is what marks out a true champion. On the other, you could argue that his measured, undemonstrative stage game almost encourages opponents to play their best stuff against him. This is going to sound like a mad question, but are there times when Humphries is too consistently excellent for his own good?
Think back to Peter Wright in the fourth round last year. Luke Littler and Gian van Veen in major finals this year. Call it aura, alpha energy, stagecraft, dark arts. The intangible ability to rip up the script, harness the moment, make the other guy doubt himself. Phil Taylor had it. Littler has it. Humphries, by and large, does not. It may just be the one absence in an otherwise flawless game.
Either way, we are yet to see the best of Humphries, and arguably we are yet to see the best of Michael van Gerwen either. After his 4-1 victory over Arno Merk the triple world champion looked bemused when the Sky Sports interviewer suggested he had been in a tough contest. “Was it a contest?” he retorted. “Not for me. I played an OK game. Overall, I can’t really complain.”
Certainly Van Gerwen’s game looks more robust than it has done at various points of a difficult year. He is no longer falling forwards at the oche, a glitch that resurfaces during his tougher moments and forces him to pull his first dart low. But as ever with Van Gerwen, it comes down to whether he can double. He was good here, 50% on the outer ring. He may need to need hit similar levels in his last-16 game against Gary Anderson.
For the 2015 and 2016 champion looks in vintage nick, beating Jermaine Wattimena 4-3 in a game that occasionally touched the hem of greatness. It was seven sets of pure cinema, a rapid, breathless game that Anderson should probably have closed out far sooner. Remarkably it was exactly the same scoreline by which Anderson beat Wattimena in the same round eight years ago.
“I was getting palpitations, never mind flashbacks,” Anderson joked afterwards. But he knows, too, that his game is in good working order. In a dramatic final set he went eight darts into the perfect leg before finally sealing victory. His third set average of 121.3 was the second highest of anyone at the tournament. He leads the 180 standings by a clear distance. If he can tighten up on the outer ring, then never mind Van Gerwen: the entire tournament may just be at his mercy.
Little by little, the big names are clanking into gear. Rob Cross and Ryan Searle both looked ominously strong in whitewash victories over Damon Heta and Martin Schindler respectively. Van Veen saw off Madars Razma of Latvia to make it into the last-16 while barely stretching himself.
An intense sweat or a brief stroll: yes, there are many different workouts available under the roof of the Palace gym. But the tests only get tougher from here.
