So Much for a Quiet Comeback: Humphries Wins in Leicester

If Luke Humphries came to Leicester just to find out how much energy he had left, he got a pretty good answer. Seven matches later, he was holding another title.

Humphries beat Niels Zonneveld 8–4 in Wednesday's Players Championship 33 final at the Mattioli Arena. It was his fourth Players Championship win of 2026, and it came on his return after illness had kept him out of the European Championship.

For me, that's the story here. Winning a floor event is hard enough when everything is going well. Coming back after a spell away, unsure how you'll feel over a full day, adds another question before you've even thrown a competitive dart.

A finish that tells its own story

The final wasn't won by reputation. Humphries averaged 103.77, broke Zonneveld's throw twice in 12 darts and finished the match with an 11-dart leg. That's a convincing way to settle any doubts about whether your game has survived the break.

He had already beaten Gerwyn Price 6–2 in the quarter-finals and Gary Anderson 7–4 in the semis. Anderson averaged 106.75 in that match and still lost. It says plenty about the standard needed to get through a day like this.

I wouldn't turn one result into a prediction for the next major. But if I were picking the most encouraging part of Humphries' return, it would be that he could produce that finish at the end of a long day, rather than just a good opening match.

Give Zonneveld his share of the attention

Zonneveld deserves more than a mention as the runner-up. He beat Jeffrey de Zwaan and Dirk van Duijvenbode before getting past Michael van Gerwen 7–5 in the semi-final. Reaching another ranking final is a result worth taking seriously, even when the last match doesn't go your way.

There was a useful twist to yesterday's Minehead qualification preview, too. Anderson's semi-final run moved him into the provisional Finals places. That was a better position to be in after Wednesday, rather than a reason to treat the job as finished before the last event.

The trophy belongs to Humphries. My other takeaway is that Leicester gave us plenty to follow beyond the winner: Zonneveld putting another strong run together, and Anderson giving his November a much-needed lift.