Luke Humphries Calls Out Gary Anderson Decision After Michael Van Gerwen Win
Luke Humphries has called out Gary Anderson for his stubbornness after he beat Michael van Gerwen convincingly in the fourth round of the World Darts Championship.
Anderson bested Van Gerwen 4-1 in the evening session, in between Humphries' win against Kevin Doets and Gian van Veen's victory over fellow prospect Charlie Manby in carbon copy scorelines.
The two-time world champion will square off against Justin Hood in the quarter finals on 1 January, having put together a fine run to move on from last year's disappointing second round exit.
The Scot said he is "quite happy" with reaching the last eight given the "phenomenal" standard of players in the 2026 tournament.
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But the 55-year-old's performances have proved he can still hang with the very best and there have been calls for him to be included in the upcoming Premier League lineup.
Anderson won the weekly competition twice but has not been present since 2022. Humphries is a regular and has been in the final in the past two years, winning the 2025 showpiece by avenging his previous defeat to Luke Littler.
The 2026 lineup will feature eight players, with four selected based on their performance and the PDC's Order of Merit and the remaining four being selected by the PDC - with "star quality" a key factor and their recent performance key factors.
And defending champion Humphries is working tirelessly to try and convince Anderson to participate in the Premier League one more time.
After his win over Doets, Humphries said: "He's a legend. I always keep telling him, keep nudging his arm, come on, Gary, just one more. Just give the fans one more and he's adamant he's not gonna do it but I think it would be great just to see him have one more.
"It's not just about Gary having one more, it's a lot of travelling and he enjoys playing the Pro Tours and stuff. We have chatted about it earlier together, it's a really hard thing for him to do because he loves playing them and it's tough. As a fan and a player I'd love to see him just do one more. I'll keep twisting his arm, see if he'll do it!"
After his win over Van Gerwen, Anderson was asked whether he would consider returning to the Premier League if he becomes world champion.
The Flying Scotsman couldn't help but laugh and quickly deflected the question, replying: "Nice weather outside, isn’t it? It’s lovely. I though there'd be snow by now but the sunshine was out today and it was great. Anyway, yeah."
The tournament takes place every Thursday night between February and May in 16 different cities across the United Kingdom and Europe.
Anderson is ranked No.14 in the Order of Merit but speaking ahead of the tournament, claimed he would not be tempted to return to the Premier League even if he moved up to world No.2 as he cited the tough travelling schedule.
"Sixteen weeks is a long time," Anderson explained.
"People think it’s one night. It’s not one night. Wednesday you’re travelling, Thursday you’re playing, Friday you’re trying to get home.”
Anderson has 54 PDC titles to his name as well as 39 PDC Pro Tour events - with only Phil Taylor and Van Gerwen managing more.
Topics: Luke Humphries, World Darts Championship, Darts
Josh Lawless