James Wade licked Luke Humphries' neck prior to quarterfinal at UK Open

James Wade surprisingly managed to reach the final of the UK Open this weekend. Afterwards, however, it was not only about the sporting achievements of 'The Machine'. The 41-year-old caused a stir with a special moment in his quarterfinal against Luke Humphries

In recent years, Wade has failed to win any tournaments at the PDC. In total, the Englishman won 11 major titles, including the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and UK Open. On Sunday night, he managed to reach the final of a major for the first time since 2023. On his way to the final, which he eventually lost 11-2 to Luke Littler, he defeated current world number one Luke Humphries.

The three-time winner of the UK Open defeated "Cool Hand Luke" 10-9 in an exciting and high-level match. In the end, the fact that Wade threw a whopping six 180s in the last 3 legs was the deciding factor in his victory. After the match, however, it was mostly about something else.

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Because Wade is lower in the world rankings, he was allowed to take the stage first. When Humphries then entered the stage, the two greeted each other with a hug. During this embrace 'The Machine' suddenly licked his compatriot's neck. 'Cool Hand Luke' did not seem to notice this himself, however.

After the match, however, things were less pleasant on stage. Wade, as mentioned earlier, eventually managed to win the match 10-9, but received only a limp hand from Humphries after the match. The former world champion later revealed in a now-deleted post on X: "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.”

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