Luke Humphries vs Haupai Puha Prediction & Betting Tips - New Zealand Darts Masters

Prediction published on 14/08/2025, 09:54  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 14/08/2025 at 09:56 in Darts Predictions

Arguably, the pick of the first round matches at the 2025 New Zealand Darts Masters will see Luke Humphries taking on Haupai Puha on Friday. The winner of this match between Cool Hand Luke and Hopes will move on to face either Damon Heta or Dean Reyland in the next round. Let's get into the match prediction.

Luke Humphries returns to Auckland to defend his New Zealand Dart Masters title and will be hoping for a much better performance than he produced last week across the pond in Australia. 

Cool Hand Luke recorded a 6-3 victory over Johnny Tata in the first round last week, but suffered a stunning whitewash defeat at the hands of Mike De Decker in round two. However, the world number one revealed after the match that he was hampered by illness.

Humphries’ only victory in this year's World Series came in New York back in June. Since then, he has split his last six matches across all competitions, three wins and three defeats. 

Meanwhile, Haupai Puha almost pulled off the biggest upset of the opening round in Australia last week when he was a whisker away from eliminating world number two Luke Littler. 

Hopes forced the Nuke to a deciding leg and recorded two 180s and an average of 88.29. He was very impressive on the outer ring, pinning five of nine attempts at double with a highest checkout of 89.

However, despite several impressive performances, Puha has been guilty of failing to get the job done, having now lost his last five in a row across all competitions after winning three of his preceding four.