Luke Humphries claimed a fourth European Tour title of 2022 at the European Darts Matchplay in Germany

Newbury’s Luke Humphries hailed his European Darts Matchplay triumph as his “greatest win ever”.

Humphries won a remarkable fourth European Tour title of 2022 thanks to a thrilling 8-7 win over Rowby-John Rodriguez in Trier, Germany, on Sunday, July 3.

Humphries overturned a 4-0 deficit in the final to win his fifth tournament of the year and scoop the £25,000 winner’s prize.

Earlier, Humphries had breezed through to Sunday’s showpiece in emphatic style, beating home favourite Lukas Wenig 6-2, Ian White 6-1 and Stephen Bunting 7-0.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, beat top seed Gerwyn Price and UK Open Champion Nathan Aspinall on his way to a maiden PDC ranking final.

The Austrian made a flying start in the final, racing into a 4-0 lead that included a magnificent 124 checkout and a 13 dart dart leg.

Humphries, however, battled back – he won the next four legs to level the tie 4-4.

In a dramatic final that ebbed and flowed, Rodriguez responded by winning two consecutive legs which included a sublime 158 checkout.

The two continued to exchange three figure finishes as Humphries hit 112 to bring the score to 6-5 before a 14-dart leg levelled the score at 6-6.

Rodriguez, 28, then moved to within a leg of his first PDC ranking title, but a 148 finish from Humphries ensured the contest went to a decider.

Rodriguez, who had the advantage of throw, was unable to capitalise and spurned two match darts at double top to open the door for Humphries.

Cool Hand Luke made no such mistake and nailed double four to seal the deal and maintain his fine form in finals.

Humphries, 27, said: “In my mind it was probably one of the greatest finals we’ve seen in the PDC, that’s how it felt.”

“I’m over the moon, but credit goes to Rowby-John, he was fantastic, he threw absolutely everything at me.

“When you make your first final, it’s not supposed to be as easy as that, but he made it look easy.

“18 months ago I’d probably have lost that 8-2 or 8-3, but I never give up.

“That’s probably my greatest win ever.”

The PDC European Tour now enjoys a brief hiatus before the Hungarian Darts Trophy takes place in Budapest between September 2 and 4.

Humphries will be looking to maintain his incredible form for the 29th edition of the World Matchplay Championship which takes place in Blackpool between July 16 and 24 and has a total prize pot of £800,000 – £200,000 of which goes to the winner.

Humphries only reached the second round last year, 2021.

He beat fellow Englishman James Wade 10-3 before losing to eventual semi-finalist Krzysztof Ratajski 11-5.

However, the twelve months since have been transformative for Humphries – he’ll be hoping this is the start of something special.