Luke Humphries has struggled since winning the World Championship earlier this year, and his poor run of form is showing no signs of concluding. ‘Cool Hand Luke’ was beaten by Dutch youngster Jurjen van der Velde on Tuesday afternoon, prompting the world No. 1 to respond furiously.
With the score at 5-5 in the best of 11 legs clash at the Players Championship in Wigan, Van der Velde left himself with 40 to win the game. In contrast, Humphries bizarrely left himself with a 172 as he despondently trudged away from the board.
Dutch prospect Van der Velde failed to capitalise though, missing D20, D10 and D5 to leave himself with just 10 and the game at his mercy. Humphries, appearing drained of motivation, managed to respond and left 47, but it was too little too late for the 29-year-old as his opponent hit a five, one and eventually a double two.
Humphries then shared an incredibly brief handshake with Van der Velde before walking back to the table to collect his belongings, furiously snapping his darts whilst en route in a sign that he is starting to feel the heat as world champion.
