"I didn't want to come here as a major champion and not win" - Luke Humphries deals with added expectation to ease past Brendan Dolan at European Championship

Luke Humphries continues to ride the wave of momentum following his first major TV title win at the World Grand Prix. 'Cool Hand Luke' has eased into the second round of the European Championship with a 6-1 win over Brendan Dolan.

Averaging 97, Humphries was a comfortable winner even though he thought he was playing much worse. "I didn't think I played that well, " he admits in his post-match press conference. "I thought I was going to be sort of low 90s there 91 or 92 maybe but yeah 97, that's not too bad. I can't complain, that's a decent average, probably around my seasonal average or thereabouts. But yeah, it felt like hard work."

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Now a major champion, expectations have shifted somewhat for Humphries. From being considered a regular dark horse for overall victory, he enters the European Championship as one of the outright favourites to take the title.

"I wanted to win my first game. I didn't want to come here as a major champion at my next major and not win," he explains. "To have the legendary John McDonald call it out, that maybe made it sink a little bit more for me yeah. That was a great feeling and I really enjoyed that one."

"There is that extra expectation on my shoulders now, where people expect me to win," he continues. "On the other side of that, I feel like I've got that off my back, I can relax a little bit more now and not have to panic every time I'm in the latter stages of major tournaments. I've got to that stage now where I've been playing for six years. I'm more experienced now and can handle that feeling of extra pressure."

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