Luke Humphries capped off an impressive display to win Night 1 of the opening night of the BetMGM 2025 Premier League of Darts in Belfast. Humphries cruised to victory to claim the maximum five points after completing a dominant 6-1 win over Chris Dobey in the final.

The Berkshire-born star overcame Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to get his tournament campaign off to the best possible start. Three high-class averages of 105.19, 99.31 and 95.86 were enough to defeat three world-class operators.

It was a fantastic opening night of darting action to kick off the 2025 Premier League of Darts. The 17 Thursday nights of exciting darting action commenced on Thursday evening in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with eight of the world’s best battling it out to make it to the O2 Arena in May.

Dobey edged out Welshman Gerwyn Price 6-4 to kickstart the evening’s proceedings. Rob Cross emulated this result against St Helens star Stephen Bunting in the second quarter-final match, where the latter marked his return to the Premier League stage after a decade absence.

Without question the best game of the night was the rematch of the 2025 PDC World Championship final between Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen. This blockbuster affair duly delivered and the Dutchman prevailed in a last leg decider, despite the 18-year-old prodigy averaging 113.91, eight points higher than his counterpart.

Van Gerwen was unable to forge a place in the final after this hard-fought win, losing to Humphries in the semifinals despite recovering from 3-1 to lead at one stage. The eight-time Premier League champion looked to be playing back to his brilliant best, but the world number one pounced after numerous matched darts missed from the Dutchman.

Dobey’s return to the eight-man exhibition saw him make a final in the first week like he did on his debut, as the Northumberland star snatched wins against two former world champions.

Premier League Table [After Night 1]

1. Luke Humphries [5]
2. Chris Dobey [3]
3. Michael van Gerwen [2]
4. Rob Cross [2]
5. Luke Littler [0]
6. Gerwyn Price [0]
7. Stephen Bunting [0]
8. Nathan Aspinall [0]

Premier League Results Night 1 Results

Quarter-Finals (Best of 11)

Chris Dobey 6-4 Gerwyn Price

Stephen Bunting 4-6 Rob Cross

Luke Littler 5-6 Michael van Gerwen

Nathan Aspinall 2-6 Luke Humphries

Semi-Finals (Best of 11)

Chris Dobey 6-4 Rob Cross

Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Luke Humphries

Final (Best of 11)

Chris Dobey 1-6 Luke Humphries