Luke Humphries thrashed Scott Williams to set up the anticipated World Darts Championship final against Luke Littler.
‘Cool Hand Luke’ destroyed his opponent with a wonderful display of darts in Tuesday’s semi-final at Alexandra Palace, easing to a 6-0 win.
With the victory, Humphries becomes the no1 ranked player in the world ahead of his showdown against 16-year-old superstar Littler.
In the evening’s other semi-final, the teenager recovered from losing the opening set to storm to victory over former world champion Rob Cross and extend his remarkable run in the competition.
Littler reaches the final having already beaten UK Open champion Andrew Gilding, five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld and Brendan Dolan.
He is seeking to become the youngest ever world champion in the sport with Humphries out to spoil the party in the capital, on a run of 18 games unbeaten.
Humphries averaged an incredible 108.74 as he hit top gear in the last four.
‘It feels amazing. I would never have imagined myself to be the world number one, that is a special, special feeling,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘And to do it in style – I was really pleased with that performance there.
‘But like I’ve said in many, many, many interviews, world number one can last a couple of months, world champion is forever and I’ve got a really tough task tomorrow against Luke [Littler].’
Humphries turned in a near-perfect display to beat Williams and insists he will have to turn in a performance of similar calibre against Littler.
‘The way he’s played, I’ve seen it many times – but when you come up on this stage, it can be a lot tougher, and he’s just proved he’s got a lot of bottle.
‘Nothing is going to faze him – if he played like that tonight, tomorrow is not going to faze him at all.
‘So I’ll probably have to play the game of my life to stand a chance of beating him. I know what’s in front of me, I’ve got to play at my best.
‘But I’m hoping I make him play at his best and we give the fans one of the best world finals that’s ever been seen.’