Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen confirms play-off spot on Night 15 at Leeds

Seven-time winner Michael van Gerwen booked his place in the Premier League Darts play-offs despite losing 6-5 to world champion Luke Humphries in the last 15 of Leeds.

Humphries’ success was his fourth win of the season on the night and matches the record held by Van Gerwen and teenager Luke Littler.

It also kept the 29-year-old in contention for the top spot, which would see him face the fourth-placed player in a play-off at London’s O2 Arena on May 23.

In the final week of the regular season, fixtures will be decided by league standings, with fourth-placed Nathan Aspinall facing fifth-placed Michael Smith in the quarter-finals, with the winner sealing the final play-off spot -off.

For Humphries, the win was a career highlight in the city of his football team, Leeds United, after they finished third in the Championship and missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League after a poor run of results.

“I knew it was on me. I knew if we lost it would be #LeedsAreFallingApartAgain online,” he told Sky Sports.

“This is one of my greatest darts experiences. My first major win would be my second, and the World Championship will always be up there, but this is my third.”

Humphries won nights six through eight earlier in the season but has failed to reach the final since.

He admitted he is feeling tired as he juggles playing in the Premier League for the first time alongside the regular events of the European Tour and Players’ Championship.

However, Humphries was back to his scintillating best for large parts of the evening in a place he calls home.

He donned a special white shirt with blue and yellow trim and, after teasing that he would do so for the past few weeks, debuted his new song I Predict A Riot by Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs.

It led to a more relaxed performance and was seen encouraging the crowd to sing along, which is not a trait often shown by the world number one.

Humphries saw off Rob Cross in a clinical 6-1 quarter-final triumph before absolutely stunning to beat Smith by the same scoreline in the last four.

The final was, however, of a lower standard, with both players irritated by a draft, but Humphries maintained a consistent average of over 100 throughout and eventually found the checkout game to seal victory.

He is now five points clear of top spot and needs to win on the final night and hopes that leader Littler – beaten 6-1 in the semi-finals by Van Gerwen – is knocked out in the opening round.

Van Gerwen’s run to the final put him back in the play-offs as he now looks to win a new Premier League record and third in three years.

The Dutchman and Humphries are also likely to meet in the play-offs, with the latter playing third and the former fourth in the opening matches.

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Gerwyn Price

Luke Littler 6-1 Peter Wright

Luke Humphries 6-1 Rob Cross

Nathan Aspinall 3-6 Michael Smith