James Wade makes light of Luke Humphries lick gate by kissing Raymond van Barneveld after Belgian Darts Open win

James Wade has qualified in Wieze for the last sixteen of the Belgian Darts Open. 'The Machine' was too strong for Raymond van Barneveld in the second round, 6-4, and will now face Boris Krcmar, who surprisingly won over Michael van Gerwen.

Wade was controversial at the UK Open last week. However, the 41-year-old Englishman did very well in the sporting arena, reaching the final where he lost 11-2 to Luke Littler. Wade had earlier won 10-9 over Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals. An icy handshake ensued between the two players after the match and afterwards it turned out why.

Indeed, images quickly surfaced on social media showing Wade giving Humphries a hug and then licking his neck prior to the match. Humphries responded to the incident afterwards on X (the former Twitter).

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

"Everyone loves to see people be a bad loser but I’m generally one of the best losers in the sport," said Wade.

"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."

James Wade was a losing finalist at the UK Open last weekend

Kissing

Wade apparently had a good laugh about the whole incident, because prior to his match against Van Barneveld in the second round of the Belgian Darts Open, he gave the Dutchman a kiss on the neck. Something Van Barneveld could see the humor in.

After his 6-4 win against Van Barneveld, Wade will be back in action on Sunday afternoon in Wieze. He will then take on Krcmar in the last sixteen. He said prior to this tournament in his Daily Star column about his goals.

"The aim in Belgium is to make the quarters or semi-finals and get back to where I belong in the top ten in the order of merit."

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