James Wade is disturbing the audience at the UK Open with a strange action: Did the darts star lick his opponent Luke Humphries on his neck?
What was that? At the UK Open, several strange scenes caused astonishment in the duel between Luke Humphries and James Wade.
It started with a bizarre interaction of the two friends of the darts stars shortly before the start of the game: the later winner Wade stretched his opponent Luke Humphries to his neck in the quarter-finals.
James Wade stretches his tongue to Luke Humphries
After the walk-on of the two British, there was a short hug, calf stretched out the tongue. It was not recognizable whether Humphries noticed this. With a laugh he said something to his opponent before the compatriots clapped again.
Humphries annoyed: handshake fails
For some fans, the incident caused a lot of amazement.
“Did James Wade just lick Luke Humphries?” Asked one viewer at X. Another replied: “I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed it.”
At first it was not clear what was behind the tongue campaign. But it went on.
The otherwise prudent Humphries made an increasingly angry impression during the game. Which may have to do with calf. A clear indicator of a struggle: the usual handshake or fist bump before the final leg failed to materialize.
After his defeat, Humphries briefly shaked the winner, but the opponents also easily came together with their shoulders. Humphries then quickly left the stage, which some darts fans described as unsportsmanlike on social media. “One said: Your friendship is over.”
Humphries apparently deletes Wade post again
As the English Boulevard newspaper The Sun reports, the number one in the world later posted on X allegations towards Wade: “Everyone loves to see people as a bad loser, but I’m generally one of the best losers in this sport.”
In the app, apparently deleted again, it was said: “I didn’t want to hug anyone who did not deserve my respect after what he did during the game, and I am happy about it, that’s just my honesty.”
An unusual speech that doesn’t really seem to fit Humphries.
From a purely sporting point of view: Wade caused a big surprise and threw the number one in the world with 10: 9 from the tournament. Humphries had previously led 6: 4 and 8: 7.