Luke Humphries claims James Wade "didn’t deserve my respect after what he was doing through the game" following frosty UK Open quarter-final

Luke Humphries' hopes for another major title were ended at the hands of James Wade in the quarter-finals of the 2025 UK Open. In a thrilling quarter-final, 'The Machine' produced an incredible late spurt to seal a 10-9 win.

Over the years, Humphries and Wade done battle on the big stage many times. On almost every occasion the match has been played out on good terms too, with the pair widely considered to be friendly with each other. Following his quarter-final loss in Minehead on Sunday afternoon though, Humphries looked notably frosty, only offering up the quickest of handshakes in scenes far removed from the post-match sportsmanship rge world number one showed against Beau Greaves earlier in the tournament.

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In a now deleted post on X (Twitter), Humphries went someway to explain the scenes at the end of his match against Wade. “Everyone loves to see people be a bad loser but I’m generally one of the best losers in the sport," Humphries replied to a fan's comments about the frosty finale, defending himself. "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.”

Wade himself, seemed unaffected or even unknowing of any potential drama, commenting after the match: “I played Luke who is the best player in the world at the moment. Luke will probably win another two or three TV majors this year.”

In his own quest to win another major though, Wade ultimately fell just short at the 2025 UK Open. After his thrilling quarter-final win over Humphries, Wade destroyed Josh Rock in the semi-finals 11-2, before eventually being on the receiving end of a thrashing himself, losing 11-2 against Luke Littler in the final on Sunday night.

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