Michael van Gerwen sealed his second Nordic Darts Masters crown as a raging Luke Humphries called out the crowd in Copenhagen for whistling which marred the final.
Top seed Van Gerwen had built on a slow start to finals evening, when he edged past Viktor Tingstrom 6-5 in the opening match of the night and then saw off Jonny Clayton 7-4.
Humphries had put his Premier League final defeat to Luke Littler behind him with a fine display to close out a 7-5 semi-final win over the world champion with a match average of 105 – which included a champagne 132 finish, hitting the bullseye twice before landing double 16.
The last game of the night proved another high-quality best-of-15 contest, which initially saw Humphries move 3-1 up before Van Gerwen responded with four straight legs to edge in front.
Both players traded breaks of throw as the match went to a deciding leg, in which Humphries just missed the bullseye to clinch victory, allowing Van Gerwen back to finish off 72 on double top and secure an 18th PDC World Series title.
The final was marred by booing and whistling by a minority in the crowd, which left Humphries frustrated.
“It’s the whistling when you’re on doubles. It’s disappointing,” he told ITV Sport.
“As players, it really is because I’m up here to give you guys entertainment and when you’re stood up here you just want to play well.
“I’m up here to win titles. I just want to give everyone entertainment. You feel disappointed and it’s hard work in the end.
“All the players are fed up with it now.”
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Van Gerwen requested that an Elvis impersonator be removed from the stage side as he was causing a distraction (credit: @OfficialPDC)
Van Gerwen was glad to be able to get his hands on another trophy following a difficult run of form.
“It was a really tough game, especially at the beginning,” Van Gerwen said. “Luke let me get away with it because he had a chance to be 4-1 up, but didn’t take them and then you try to take advantage, and luckily I did.”
The Dutchman continued: “It is always nice to have a win behind your name again. That gives confidence and a good feeling because my performances early on in the rounds were not good.
“But more importantly it was how I bounced back to keep grafting. That makes me win today and I am really pleased with that.”
Humphries got revenge for his Premier League final defeat against Luke Littler
In the semi-finals, Humphries had closed out a 7-5 win over world champion Littler.
The opening quarter-final of the evening’s action had seen Van Gerwen fight back to end the hopes of Tingstrom when he edged a tense last-leg decider – surviving a match dart for the Swede, who had upset reigning champion Stephen Bunting on Friday night.
Clayton came through his all-Welsh showdown to beat Gerwyn Price 6-3 while Littler had coasted to a 6-1 win over James Wade and Humphries saw off Gian van Veen in a deciding leg.
2026 Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Viktor Tingstrom
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler 6-1 James Wade
Luke Humphries 6-5 Gian van Veen
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Jonny Clayton
Luke Humphries 7-5 Luke Littler
Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-7 Luke Humphries
What’s happening on Sky Sports next?
The 2026 World Cup of Darts will be held at Frankfurt’s Eissporthalle from June 11-14, as 40 nations compete for the coveted title in the unique pairs event.
The top four ranked nations – based on the lowest cumulative PDC ranking of the two competing players – are seeded and will enter at the last 16 stage.
This includes top seeds England, four-time winners Netherlands, reigning champions Northern Ireland and two-time champions Scotland.
The remaining 36 nations have been split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin phase – including 12 seeded nations – from which each group winner will advance.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch Finals Night next Thursday on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
