Van Gerwen battles past Humphries to capture second World Series title of year

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-gerwen-michael/SU4UkKsm/"]Van Gerwen[/a] survived the match dart at bullseye in the deciding leg [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/darts/humphries-l-n34VOAWo/van-gerwen-m-SU4UkKsm/summary/stats/?mid=xlDjkbK8"]before completing a 15-dart hold of throw[/a] to claim his second World Series of Darts title of 2026. The victory also made him the first player to win the Nordic Darts Masters twice since the event began in 2021.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/humphries-luke/n34VOAWo/"]Humphries[/a] had led 3-1 in the final after consecutive 12-dart legs, but Van Gerwen responded with four straight legs to move 5-3 ahead. Humphries levelled at 5-5, and the match eventually went the distance, only for the Dutchman to take his chance after Humphries missed for the title.[/p][embed guid="16d4177b-ac17-4f03-bcf2-00864f488088" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2063368052016558293" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"It was a really tough game,"[/b] said Van Gerwen, who converted 57 per cent of his darts at double in the final. [b]"Luke had the chance to be 4-1 and 5-2 up and luckily I took advantage.[/b][/p][p][b]"My performances in the first two rounds were not good, I have to acknowledge that, but more importantly the way I bounced back and kept grafting, that helped me win today and I'm really pleased with that."[/b][/p][p]Van Gerwen had been made to work hard earlier in the tournament. After beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukasiak-oskar/2ZfjynB8/"]Oskar Lukasiak[/a] in the first round on Friday, he came through a deciding-leg quarter-final against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tingstrom-viktor/0h83p6C3/"]Viktor Tingstrom[/a], who had knocked out defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bunting-stephen/xANKMtPG/"]Stephen Bunting[/a] in round one.[/p][p]Tingstrom led 5-3 and missed a match dart before Van Gerwen won three consecutive legs to reach the semi-finals.[/p][p]He then produced his best performance of the weekend to beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clayton-jonny/tx0y2xRD/"]Jonny Clayton[/a] 7-4, averaging 101.55 and hitting 44 per cent of his doubles.[/p][p]Humphries also impressed in Copenhagen despite falling short in the final.[/p][embed guid="44580da4-2967-4f2d-a4d4-eeacb49d0999" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2063378805142561127" social-type="twitter" /][p]He opened his campaign with a 109.92 average against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-graaf-jeffrey/QihQLWNE/"]Jeffrey de Graaf[/a] before beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-veen-gian/jgT1AT29/"]Gian van Veen[/a] in a last-leg decider in the quarter-finals, aided by five 180s.[/p][p]The world number two then defeated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/littler-luke/0URN6Xks/"]Luke Littler[/a] in the semi-finals, nine days after losing to him in the Premier League final.[/p][p][b]Humphries averaged 105.82 and hit half of his darts at double in that victory, but his 98.83 average in the final was his only sub-100 return of the tournament.[/b][/p][p]In the other quarter-finals, Clayton beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/price-gerwyn/8dDDoW0B/"]Gerwyn Price[/a] 6-3 in an all-Welsh meeting, while Littler defeated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wade-james/MRrXjBAB/"]James Wade[/a] 6-1 in a repeat of this year’s UK Open final.[/p][p]The World Series of Darts continues in New York from June 25th-26th, when the US Darts Masters takes place at Madison Square Garden.[/p]