Humphries wins in Leeds as Van Gerwen cements play-off spot
The world number one came through Rob Cross 6-1 in the quarter-finals and Michael Smith 6-1 in the semis en route to the final, while Dutchman Van Gerwen downed a returning Gerwyn Price 6-3 before a 6-1 demolition job of Luke Littler.
Debuting a Leeds-inspired shirt and new walkout music, the Kaiser Chiefs' 'I Predict a Riot', Cool Hand Luke looked determined from the get-go to impress in front of his home crowd, who responded with rapturous support throughout the evening on the penultimate night of the Premier League Darts league phase.
"I knew it was on me. I knew if I lost, it would have been 'Leeds are falling apart' online," Humphries told Sky Sports.
"It's a dream for me to perform in front of this crowd. It's not something I get too often really: the crowd wanting me to win.
"This is one of my greatest experiences in darts. My first major win would be second and the World Championship will always be top. But this is third.
"Tonight was an incredible feeling for me, to go on and win when the pressure was on, I'm really proud of that.
"I've done my bit, I won three on the trot. I see online everyone saying 'he's having an off patch'.
"We're all going to have it, Luke had his, I've had mine - it's natural. All that matters is peaking on night 17."
In the final, MVG initially took a 2-0 lead before Humphries finally held a leg to get himself on the board, sinking an excellent 140 set-up before taking out double 14.
The pair then exchanged legs before Humphries finally began to find his rhythm in a stop-start affair for both players.
With 132 to take out for a vital break, Humphries hit a bullseye, treble 14 and tops to finish, raising the roof of the First Direct Arena.
Both players acknowledged a bit of a draft in the arena and continued to trade legs, finding themselves at 4-4 and then 5-5 after Humphries missed a match dart at double 20.
In the deciding leg, Michael van Gerwen had a match dart to claim a fifth nightly win but couldn't hit the bullseye, opening the door for the Englishman, who duly hit tops to take his fourth win of the season.
The reigning world champion's place at the O2 was already assured - along with Littler - but having outperformed Nathan Aspinall and Smith, Van Gerwen has now also secured his place at the play-off finals in two weeks.
