World No.1 Luke Humphries launched into an uncharacteristic and now-deleted social media rant after losing his UK Open quarter-final match with James Wade. ‘The Machine’ won an absorbing clash 10-9 in Minehead, taking out double tops at the first attempt to seal a huge upset.
Humphries, long considered one of the sport’s most composed and dignified characters, appeared irate as he left the stage. Despite accepting a quick handshake from Wade, he also appeared to barge him with his shoulder before heading backstage.
‘Cool hand Luke’ then later responded to a fan on X who had noted the unsavoury finish, writing: “Everyone loves to see people be a bad loser but I’m generally one of the best losers in the sport.
“I wasn’t going to give someone who didn’t deserve my respect after what he was doing through the game a hug and be all happy about it that’s just my honesty.”
His anger appeared to relate to the pre-match exchange between the pair. Wade seemingly licked the neck of his opponent as they shared a handshake and a hug, leading to a frosty atmosphere at the oche throughout the match.
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Notably, at 9-9, the two players didn’t share a fist bump, which has become standard practice when a match goes to a deciding leg. Although when interviewed on stage afterwards, Wade seemed to avoid talking about the apparent fallout.
“I played Luke who is the best player in the world at the moment,” he said, of his dramatic win. “Luke will probably win another two or three TV majors this year.”
The 41-year-old appeared to be heading out as Humphries moved into a 7-5 and then an 8-7 lead. But having fought back to effectively force sudden death, he hit two maximums to leave 45, which he took out after Humphries had left himself 145.
Wade continued his form into the semi-finals, beating Josh Rock 10-2. That set up a clash with Luke Littler with ‘The Machine’ one win away from his first televised major title since his last win at the UK Open in 2021.
However, he got off to a terrible start against the teenager. Littler won every leg in the opening session to head into the break 5-0 up.
