De Decker stuns Humphries to win World Grand Prix

De Decker had never previously been past the last 32 of a major PDC tournament. (Simon O'Connor/PDC)

BBC Sport, October 14 — Mike de Decker caused a huge upset as he beat defending champion Luke Humphries 6-4 to win the World Grand Prix title.

The Belgian, a 200-1 outsider before the tournament, withstood a fightback from the world number one to triumph in his first major final.

Englishman Humphries was seeking his fifth televised ranking tournament since his first major victory, on this stage in Leicester a year ago.

But De Decker, 28, surged into a 4-1 lead and kept his cool after world champion Humphries levelled to clinch the £120,000 first prize.

"The way Luke has been playing this last year until now has been brilliant, Being the person that beats him this weekend in the final, picking up this trophy, I have no words, I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so happy," he said.

"I was cool in patches. In the beginning, I was really, really, really nervous, then I calmed down. I went 4-1 up, he came back to 4-4. I started to get nerves again but I did it.

"I lost my card, wasn't on tour, got my card back. My best friend, my mum, everyone, they have all been behind me and thanks to them I won this trophy. I am over the moon."

De Decker, nicknamed The Real Deal, lifted the trophy and led the crowd in a rousing rendition of his walk-on song, Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.

Despite his long odds for the double-start tournament, he beat four players with a combined total of 26 major titles - Gary Anderson, James Wade, Dimitri van den Bergh and Humphries.

He hit 16 180s and an average of 92.06 in a final victory that sees him rise 11 places to 25 in the PDC Order of Merit.

Humphries was seeking his fifth televised ranking title since victory in Leicester a year ago. (Getty Images)

De Decker holds off Humphries comeback

Humphries went into the final a heavy favourite and on the back of a memorable 5-0 whitewash of Ryan Joyce in the last four.

But he had to survive a set dart to take the opener, missed three darts at doubles in the next and De Decker took charge.

The Belgian claimed three consecutive sets, clinching the third with a 154 checkout, and went further ahead after a nervy fifth.

Humphries fired in 149 and 152 finishes on the way to saving the sixth set, and he took the next two to level the match.

Just as the underdog looked set to be overhauled, De Decker regrouped and won two straight sets for the biggest victory of his career.

"He showed so much bottle, he really did. I know how it felt to be in that position a year ago and I felt my heart racing and my hands shaking," said Humphries.

Humphries has gone to a new level since claiming his first major trophy by beating Gerwyn Price in the World Grand Prix final 12 months ago.

He went on to land the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals before beating Luke Littler to lift the world championship

Humphries has also won the World Matchplay, the World Cup of Darts (for England with Michael Smith) and finished runner-up in the UK Open and Premier League.

But his average dropped markedly from 100.3 in his semi-final win to 90.56 in the final as he tried in vain to retain his Grand Prix title.

"I felt really tired tonight," he said.

"I came back and had two big out shots and then, 4-2, 4-3 and I thought 'it's game on now' but he didn't think about it, he got better."