"There was too much whistling. I don't like that!" - Ricardo Pietreczko loses his match against Luke Humphries at the World Darts Championship despite a great start

Ricardo Pietreczko's World Darts Championship dream came to an end on Thursday night as the German lost out to Luke Humphries 4-3 after an enthralling matchup.

Despite the defeat, Pietreczko was available for an interview with Elmar Paulke on DAZN after the match: "The crowd was on my side, yes. But it was somehow too much on my side. Whenever Luke went for a shot, the whistle blew from the right block. There was just too much whistling when he went for the shot. I don't like that!"

At 3-1, it looked like 'Pikachu' would bring the game home and he hadn't put himself under any pressure. "I went on stage at 3-1, like 'it's 0-0'," said the German. But then Luke Humphries increasingly found the treble 20, which he had not managed so often up to that point, and the match began to turn more and more in the Englishman's favour. "I didn't realise it. At some point, it was 3-3 and I just thought: 'Good, he's got the throw'."

Nevertheless, Pietreczko was positive about his debut at the Ally Pally: "It was very nice. The arena is much smaller than I thought, though. It's even smaller than Dortmund. But it was a lot of fun. The atmosphere, the fans... I hope I can be there again."