James Wade has been accused of licking Luke Humphries’ neck during their UK Open quarter-final, with the world number one posting and then deleting an angry tweet about the match
Darts ace James Wade has sparked controversy after allegedly licking Luke Humphries‘ neck during their UK Open quarter-final.
Paul Nicholson, the ex-Players Championship winner, hinted ‘The Machine’ might be investigated and need to explain his actions, which appeared to have annoyed world number one Humphries.
Before the final leg of their match, the standard handshake or fist bump was skipped, with ‘Cool Hand Luke’ going for a shoulder bump instead after his narrow 10-9 loss.
Humphries, in a since-deleted tweet, vented his frustration, saying: “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.”
Nicholson has leapt to Humphries’ defence, slamming Wade’s behaviour as ‘disgusting’, despite some critics suggesting Humphries showed poor sportsmanship, reports the Express.
Speaking to Sporting Life, Nicholson commented on the stark contrast between recent accolades for Humphries’ sportsmanship and the critique following his standoffish interaction with Wade.
“It is ridiculous for anyone to call Humphries a ‘bad loser’ and his track record of graciousness speaks for itself,” Nicholson said.
“There had seemingly been tensions building throughout and they didn’t exchange the usual handshake or fist bump before the deciding leg, while Wade licking Humphries’ neck before the match began may have been an issue.
“I’m with Luke on this one. I think sometimes as a competitor, you have to draw a line and say, ‘If you are going to play games and do things within a competitive environment that cross the line, then don’t expect respect in return’.
“The photograph that surfaced of James sticking his tongue out and touched Luke’s neck was disgusting and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was investigated.
“Whether that was one of the things that bothered Luke or not, the fact he left the stage in the manner he did after the match wasn’t anything to do with being a ‘bad loser’.
“If James hadn’t done anything provocative, Luke’s reaction to defeat would have been very different. Obviously I’ve been in my fair share of incidents, and there was one time when I lost to Kim Huybrechts at the World Cup and I walked off without shaking his hand.
“I was called a bad loser then but I was just mad at myself – not at Kim. So, these things can happen at the end of a match when there’s been no bad blood.”