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Luke Humphries has been ruled out of the World Darts Championship as an emotional Peter Wright caused the reigning champion a shock upset.
Humphreys and Wright met in a very interesting match in the last 16, a rivalry that started in recent days.
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The two had plenty to say about each other before the first dart was thrown, with the former responding to the latter’s comments about his playing days.
‘Cool Hand’, the current World No. 1, entered the match as the favourite, but his showpiece opponent played well against Jermaine Watimena in his last match. Despite fighting the disease.
But incredibly it was Wright, despite his poor form this year, who caused a shock upset in a thrilling match.
The Scotsman showed an emotional face as he confirmed his victory, fighting back tears as he was surrounded by adoring fans at Alexandra Palace.
Against the 4-1 pre-tournament favorite, Wright turned the tables and made good on his promise that he can still compete at a very high level.
“Luke gave me a lot of chances there, he didn’t play as well as he could have,” he said after the sensational victory.
“I’ve never had such support in my life, thank you all. It’s amazing. I’ve been trying to get in shape all year and it’s very annoying because I know I can still play darts.”
I have never experienced anything like (that crowd) in the world.
“Luckily I wasn’t playing Luke Humphries last year because he was fantastic.
“I’m a two-time world champion and I want to win it for the third time. I’m not that old and you only have to play well for two or three weeks in the whole year.
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These three weeks are all important and I’m in the quarter finals. I thought I played bad tonight, so hopefully I can play better and score better in the next round.
“As long as this crowd is behind me, I have a chance.”
Wright started very well and improved on his previous performance against his annual form as he went 1-0 early with a 97 average.
It was the start of the “snake bite” shock that seemed to bring Humphries back to life. The Newbury pitcher went all the way to the second set and nailed a double 8 in the final to bring it to one apiece.
Cool Hand seemed to be on top, but looked surprisingly disappointed as he failed to capitalize as many expected.
But in a decisive match, it was Wright who held his nerve, finishing with a closing 94 and a 14-dart leg to creep in front.
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The former two-time champion showed his finesse and flexibility to compete against one of the darting geniuses and went surprisingly easy 3-1.
But incredibly, despite brief flashes of brilliance, Humphreys showed no signs of being in control and was knocked out.
This means that the defending champion is out with fans who can hardly believe what they are seeing and he will not successfully defend his title.
Despite the fact that the couple fought and verbally fought with each other during the construction phase, at the end the couple acted very respectfully and shared a respectful hug.
Wright was clearly emotional and made good on his vow to compete with the best and execute a surprise plan to take the Syd Waddell trophy.
“What motivates me? Luke Humphries and Luke Littler drives me because I know I can still compete with them,” Wright told reporters earlier this month.
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What I do in practice, I can compete with these guys and actually be better than them.
“These little old men can still do it. I believe Barney (Raymond van Barnold) will beat Luke and then me and Barney will have the best match you’ve ever seen on that stage.”
Brad Wright creates a hole in the field for someone to run through, and plenty of players line up to take advantage of it. Luke Littler, Michael Van Gerwen and Gruen Price.
Now that means the Wrights could be on their way to hitting “The Nuke” and Humphries no longer tops the charts at Ally Pally.
He has had an incredible year and will reflect positively, still sitting comfortably at the top of the PDC Merit.
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