Luke Humphries defended over 'bad loser' accusations against James Wade and hailed for his treatment of darts sensation Beau Greaves

As well as hitting the headlines over the past couple of seasons for his incredible major-winning performances and climbing to the top of the sport, Luke Humphries is also widely regarded as a wonderful ambassador for darts due to his behaviour on and off the oche.

He's a fantastic role model for players of all ages and is always extremely respectful of his opponents in victory and defeat.

We saw a prime example of this in Minehead on Friday night when he brought Beau Greaves back onto the stage for a well-deserved ovation from the crowd following their pulsating fourth-round clash which Humphries won 10-7.

He averaged 102 in that match and it speaks volumes about Greaves' efforts that Humphries was subsequently about to beat Ryan Searle 10-0 and Ryan Joyce 10-2 in the next two rounds with slightly lower averages.

Humphries' reaction to Greaves was just another example of how he recognises the bigger picture. He's always been so magnanimous about the way Luke Littler takes the lion's share of the spotlight even when others feel he's been 'overlooked', while on this occasion he wanted to ensure Greaves got the credit she deserved.

And he would have given her the highest praise possible had she beaten him without any sense of bitterness.

When we see something like that, it just goes to show that there are people in sport who can be competitive, but also very gracious.

I'll talk more about Beau's brilliance later but just two days after that lovely gesture, Humphries found himself being harshly criticised by some fans on social media for a frosty handshake and a small shoulder barge that followed his 10-9 defeat to James Wade in the quarter-finals.

It is ridiculous for anyone to call Humphries a 'bad loser' and his track record of graciousness speaks for itself.

There had seemingly been tensions building throughout and they didn't exchange the usual handshake or fist bump before the deciding leg, while Wade licking Humphries' neck before the match began may have been an issue.

Humphries responded to one fan on Twitter with: “Everyone loves to see people be a bad loser but I’m generally one of the best losers in the sport. 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.”

He has since deleted it but I'm with Luke on this one.

I think sometimes as a competitor, you have to draw a line and say, 'If you are going to play games and do things within a competitive environment that cross the line, then don't expect respect in return'.

The photograph that surfaced of James sticking his tongue out and touched Luke's neck was disgusting and I wouldn't be surprised if it was investigated.

Whether that was one of the things that bothered Luke or not, the fact he left the stage in the manner he did after the match wasn't anything to do with being a 'bad loser'. If James hadn't done anything provocative, Luke's reaction to defeat would have been very different.

Obviously I've been in my fair share of incidents, and there was one time when I lost to Kim Huybrechts at the World Cup and I walked off without shaking his hand.

I was called a bad loser then but I was just mad at myself - not at Kim. So, these things can happen at the end of a match when there's been no bad blood.

Wade isn't exactly the most gracious in defeat anyway. Some of the handshakes he's given down the years have been perfunctory at best.

We've got to give him credit for what he's done in the sport for over 20 years, but he's not an angel.

Brilliant Beau

Beau Greaves may not be on the PDC Tour full-time, but the way she's played and performed against the men in recent times proves that she's probably as good as anyone inside the top 64 in the world. I don't think anybody's going to refuse to admit that.

She averaged comfortably in the 90s in four of her six games, while she tops the Challenge Tour and Development Tour averages this season with 92.70 and 91.20 respectively.

If she competed regularly against the world's elite on the Pro Tour then these averages would be even higher and it wouldn't be long before she challenges at the latter stages of those events.

Interestingly her average in the Women's Series is 'only' 87.50 but the reasons for that are two-fold.

Firstly, when playing 'weaker' players and winning the vast majority of legs, you're obviously spending more time on the doubles and having lower scoring visits. It's just the way it works. You see people who go from the Challenge Tour to the Pro Tour and they automatically gain about three or four points because they're playing better players all the time.

They're going to have less darts at the board and potentially less time trying to finish because they are up against superior players.

Secondly, when playing better players, you are switched on a bit more. It's almost as if someone gives you an injection of adrenaline. You're more focused and you play better.

Simple as that. You find new levels when you play better players.

At the moment we should only judge Beau's potential on the numbers she produces on the tougher tours and right now, it's mightily impressive.

Littler hitting Jackpot levels

We can't end this column without talking about the eventual UK Open champion.

Luke Littler was fabulous. After being pushed to a deciding leg by Peter Wright on opening night, he pretty much dominated every game he played and averaged over 100 in five of his six matches. The fact his lowest average was 98 tells its own story.

He was so energised and motivated across the weekend and showed everybody around the world how you win a UK Open.
His standard right now is better than most players on the earth and it's still a breath of fresh air for all of us to see a genius at work. We just can't take him for granted.

Littler's 11-2 victory over Wade was the second biggest margin of victory in a UK Open final behind the time Adrian Lewis thrashed Terry Jenkins 11-1 in 2014 with a 109 average.

I know the debate about where Littler ranks amongst the all-time greats such as Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen has already been overdone even though he's only just turned 18 (!), but I think the comparison between his natural talent and that of Adrian in his peak years is an interesting one.

Lewis is often talked about as one of the most naturally gifted players to have ever picked up a dart and when he was in full flow, he was simply breathtaking to watch. He produced incredible averages with his effortless style of play and his 180s ratio felt as electrifying as Littler's does now.

Ability-wise, I can't separate them right now when they're at their best and they are similar kinds of players.

I think Littler is a bit more creative when it comes to checkouts and approach shots because he's an evolutionary product in that regard.

Luke has the potential to overtake him but it's still far too early to compare him to Taylor and MVG purely because the sample size of success and averages are too small.

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