‘Did that get shown?' – Weird thing Luke Humphries did with his glass caught on TV leaving darts ace embarrassed
The former world champion, 30, was in action at the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen, Germany.
2
Luke Humphries was interviewed after his win
2
Humphries, 30, stooped to sip from his glass of water
Cool Hand Luke comfortably dispatched of Scutt 6-1 on Saturday.
In addition to his good play,
During the contest, the Berkshire ace seemed determined not to use his hands while sipping his water, bending down to take a drink.
Quizzed about the incident after his win, Humphries said: "Did that get shown on camera? It was… my hands were so sweaty, and I didn't want to touch the glass because it was so, like..."
READ MORE IN SPORT
The world No1 added: "There was so much moisture that I was like, if I pick it up with my hands, it might make…
"Look, it's very hot out here. It's really, really tough. It's like being abroad when you're on holiday.
"But you have to make the best of a bad situation, and I thought if I don't touch the glass, I won't add that moisture to my hands, and it worked!
"I didn't know you were going to catch it on camera. I was hoping I did it discreetly, but yeah, I was just trying to help myself a bit."
Most read in Darts
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
Responding to Humphries' gesture, one fan wrote on X: "Could just use his left hand to pick op the glass."
While a second joked: "Gonna have to change his nickname to 'Wet hand' Luke now."
Shambolic 40-darter leg branded 'magnificent for all the wrong reasons
Humphries was back in action on Sunday.
Cool Hand Luke was edged 6-5 by
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does
not
include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included.
1994 - Dennis Priestley
1995 - Phil Taylor
1996 - Phil Taylor (2)
1997 - Phil Taylor (3)
1998 - Phil Taylor (4)
1999 - Phil Taylor (5)
2000 - Phil Taylor (6)
2001 - Phil Taylor (7)
2002 - Phil Taylor (8)
2003 - John Part
2004 - Phil Taylor (9)
2005 - Phil Taylor (10)
2006 - Phil Taylor (11)
2007 - Raymond van Barneveld
2008 - John Part (2)
2009 - Phil Taylor (12)
2010 - Phil Taylor (13)
2011 - Adrian Lewis
2012 - Adrian Lewis (2)
2013 - Phil Taylor (14)
2014 - Michael van Gerwen
2015 - Gary Anderson
2016 - Gary Anderson (2)
2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2)
2018 - Rob Cross
2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3)
2020 - Peter Wright
2021 - Gerwyn Price
2022 - Peter Wright (2)
2023 - Michael Smith
2024 - Luke Humphries
2025 - Luke Littler
Most World Titles
14 - Phil Taylor
3 - Michael van Gerwen
2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Sky Sports presenter can't keep straight face at darts star Andrew Gilding's excruciating answer to question on live TV
SKY SPORTS presenter Polly James could not keep a straight face after darts star Andrew Gilding gave a remarkable answer to a question live on TV. Gilding, 54, progressed past Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-5 to reach the World Matchplay of darts quarter-finals for just the second time in his career. 3 Andrew Gilding left a Sky Sports presenter and fans stunned with his answer to a question Credit: 3 Polly James admitted she was unable to keep a straight face at Gilding's 'stiff answer' Credit: Taylor Lanning/PDC 3 Gilding is into the quarters of the World Matchplay of darts for the second time Credit: The English player was interviewed by Sky Sports on stage at Winter Gardens in Blackpool after his match. However, his answer to the presenter's first question left both James and darts pros stunned. Goldfinger said: "Thank you. I don't know what happened. "I've spent two days in the hotel room, getting stiff and come up here today feeling absolutely awful and somehow it happened." READ MORE IN DARTS His answer left viewers stunned, with James revealing she was barely able to keep her composure in a social media post. She said: "People asking how I kept a straight face….. I bloody didn't." Stunned Glen Durrant - a three-time champion of Lakeside and winner of the Premier League in 2020 - posted: "What was that about Andrew Gilding / stiff / hotel room. I didn't quite catch it." Meanwhile, two-time Women's Series winner Gemma Hayter said: "Spent two days in the hotel room getting stiff. Most read in Darts BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK "Wonderfully worded Andrew Gilding," followed by a laughing emoji. Another fan who was taken aback said: "Andrew Gilding spent two days in the hotel doing WHAT?!" Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney in heated ruckus on stage at World Matchplay Darts Continuing on his low-key prep for the tournament, Gilding added: "We went out for fish and chips but that's about it really..." Asked what about Blackpool brings out the best in him, he said: "All the Goldfinger scarves. I've got a lot more support over the years." On the support he was receiving from fans, the World No28 continued: "It's amazing. I can't believe it. Thump my chest for it." Gilding concluded by saying he would not be watching the nights remaining games to discover his opponent, admitting he doesn't care who he plays next. As it turns out, his next opponent will be reigning world champion The Elsewhere, Gian van Veen is taking on James Wade and Stephen Bunting is facing Jonny Clayton. List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Luke Littler aiming to join elite group of just four darts legends by winning World Matchplay to complete triple crown
LUKE LITTLER admits he is focused on joining the oche elite as a triple crown champion at the World Matchplay. The World No.2 picked up a Premier League title back in 2024 and followed it up by Advertisement 1 Luke Littler admits he is focused on becoming a triple crown champion at the World Matchplay Credit: Getty 'The Nuke' now needs to win the iconic major at the Winter Gardens to add his name to another list of icons. Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, and most recently Luke Humphries are the only four players to have completed the prestigious feat. Taylor, 16-times world champion, is still the only player to have completed the 'Triple Crown' in a singular darting season. Teen sensation Littler is focused on making sure he picks up that first-round win against Ryan Searle on Sunday to start his path for what would be another history-making victory. Advertisement He said: 'I am looking forward to going back. 'Obviously my debut didn't go how I wanted it to go, a tough first round against Michael. 'I am just looking forward to that first game and getting a win at the iconic Matchplay. 'It definitely motivates me to try and get the win and try and go far in what has been an up-and-down season so far. Advertisement Most read in Darts CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS 'Hopefully I can just win that first game and see what goes on from there – I just want to get a win at the Winter Gardens.' He added: 'The World Cup did not go to plan for me and Luke [Humphries]. It was tough conditions that we couldn't do much about, but now the Matchplay, you are on your own, not in a team, and can battle it out with the best in the world. 'This is why we play darts indoors' - Video of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries struggling in new tournament emerges 'The Matchplay is a different breed and it is going to be tough if I want to go all the way. Advertisement 'If I win it, I join that 'Triple Crown' group, so that is obviously what I am focusing on – win the Matchplay and then I will have all three. 'I didn't even realise properly that the 'Triple Crown' was a thing, I thought it was another major added to the list. 'But with only Luke, Phil, Michael, and Gary doing it, it would be a massive achievement.' List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
The 42
5 days ago
- The 42
How one of Irish sport's most influential figures goes under the radar
CIARÁN MEDLAR IS often described as one of the most influential figures in Irish sport, but he prefers to keep a low profile. Despite working closely with some of the most famous people in the country and in some cases, the world, Medlar does not himself seek headlines or fame. In addition to being chairman of Shamrock Rovers, he also sits on the Board of Rugby Players Ireland and, for over 30 years, has been advising some of the country's most high-profile athletes. In 2021, he represented Ireland's women's football internationals in the historic equal pay deal, with both male and female players now receiving €2,000 per match. When the role of the Football Association of Ireland's chief executive became available last year, Medlar was one of the names mentioned as a possible successor to Jonathan Hill. Medlar's involvement in sport began in the mid-1990s, when he started advising the Republic of Ireland soccer team. In the late 1990s, a chartered accountancy firm, BDO Ireland, established a sports advisory unit, which Medlar became the head of. It has since grown to the point where BDO now have over 100 sports clients advising on all aspects of the athlete's business affairs. The individuals range from young players to former stars who are now retired. The 42 recently caught up with Medlar to chat about his career and advice for young footballers. Medlar helped broker the historic equal pay agreement between the Irish men's and women's international teams. How did your involvement in sport get started? 'I got involved advising the Republic of Ireland soccer team in the mid-1990s through advising on financial affairs and exploitation of the commercial opportunities for them as a group around the events that they would have been qualifying for around that time. That's where I got introduced to people who would come to the end of their careers from the previous generation, and then people are starting out in the next stages of careers as well. And from that it grew into a variety of sports. So we established a sports unit in BDO back in the late 1990s, and it's flourished. We've over 100 sports clients within that, so revising all aspects of their business affairs, not just tax and financial, but also around post-career planning, what comes after sport, and that's across a variety of sports, in football, rugby, racing, golf, and horse racing. It's gone across a variety of different sports, because a lot of the issues facing one sport are exactly the same facing another. And so it's just grown out of that. But within that, we advise a lot of younger players, Irish players typically go to play football in the UK. Now it has broadened to Europe, because we advise them at an early stage of their career, how to plan financial affairs within that time frame, but also when they finish playing professionally, what comes next.' How would you describe yourself in terms of your role in sports? Would a financial advisor be the best way of putting it? 'Probably not. A financial advisor suggests something different. It's more like a business advisor, because it's broader than that. It's not just financially, it's other aspects as well. But we've grown our team in BDO there in the last number of years. Cian O'Sullivan, the ex-Dublin footballer, has joined us over the last four years. So it's expanding all the time. Opportunities for us in the sports business environment are significant, and we've built that over a period and grown into quite an established practice, which is probably unique amongst professional services firms in Ireland.' The former RTÉ journalist and businessman Fintan Drury was a pretty key figure in helping you get set up, right? 'I did a podcast [with The Currency] recently. I did mention Fintan would have been the one who gave me the opportunity in sports back at that time, because he had established Ireland's first sports agency at the time, and we would have worked quite closely with him at that period. But he was very generous to give us that opportunity, and the group grew out of that. I had a lot of support from Fintan in the early days.' What are some of the things you would advise a young footballer to do? 'I think one of the key things for young footballers, there's normally a tight group around them, and it's important that that's relatively small initially. But it would involve the family structure. Typically, parents or guardians. They would also have their actual agent to help with the negotiation, in tandem with a financial person or business person like ourselves, and probably some legal advice, but people are trying to plan and give the individual player the best chance to progress. So in the early stage, I suppose it's quite unusual in a business sense, as everyone knows that the income comes very early in their career, as opposed to the other way around for most people. But there are some oddities in the system — it is an unusual career. It can be short, or it can be long. It can come to an abrupt end through injury, loss of form, from a change of coach at a footballing level. Advertisement So, from day one, what we would advise is quite conservative. But it's also planning for the post career piece, where that comes to two, four or 15 years, it's also trying to protect the individual that they have a chance to either go again, if they need to, outside of football, and when they do finish playing, they're financially well set up for next piece of life. So that any challenge they have, financial will not be one of them. What often happens in football is that, and I'm talking about the traditional model, where they go to the UK. I'll come back to that later, because that's obviously changed in recent times. People go in and they earn a lot of money, or certainly some of the top end would earn a lot of money early on. And they get thrown some wacky investment opportunities that are going around the place, and everyone's trying to chase this massive return on it. Oftentimes these are just poor investments, and they end up coming back to cripple the players financially, whereas the more steady approach, and if you wish, the boring approach, is the way we would recommend where people are trying to chase relatively modest return on their investments, so that the money's growing for them in the background, but not being put at risk either. So that's a much safer approach. And certainly, when we would encourage everything from safer investment devices, pension planning, player insurance, life insurance, etc, that would all be put in place so that the players are planning for their post-career at a very early stage. I'd also encourage them, though, that they are young players who are doing well. They need to enjoy some of the money. So we'd always carve out a piece that they have for them to enjoy their life as well, and to enjoy the journey that they have, and to help families if that's appropriate as well. So it's trying to get that balance right between the actual protection piece for themselves and enjoying the journey. And then for the higher profile people who have longer careers, you're trying to invest that money so that they're financially independent, well in advance of when they come to finish playing football, and they have to find out what they want to do after football. Because it's a different sort of challenge than they would have. The horror stories you would hear about some of the players in the UK, particularly, who would have finished playing and have these massive investments that have gone south, or tax issues that may have arisen because of an investment they made, or so on. So, you're trying to protect people from that. The football journey has changed. People traditionally would have gone over to the UK. Post-Brexit, the actual opportunity to do so has changed. So that could flip back, I believe, in the relatively short term, or there could be some licence arrangement where players could go to the UK at an earlier stage than 18. But for now, that's the rules. Hence, you have two options. Typically, the players will actually go further afield to Europe, which brings different challenges, settling into a different environment, oftentimes into a different language and culture, or what's happening more and more, some players are staying in the League of Ireland and playing professional football here for a longer period, because the product here, the quality has increased a lot. The attendance and profile have increased, and the opportunity to shine on a European stage has become more real for the players. So it's becoming a real alternative to going elsewhere at an early stage, and it allows the clubs here to grow the players and sell them at a later stage for a higher transfer fee than they otherwise would have got. I think a lot of the coaches in the League of Ireland, as well, are much more focused on developing the players' careers, as opposed to just trying to flip them and sell them on as an asset. But there is a much more genuine interest in many of the coaches here, in the players and the individuals themselves. So that suits a lot of players to go a bit later. So there is probably a bit more money made here in Ireland, and the players are a bit more mature by the time you get to the UK, and a bit more self-sufficient.' Medlar has been chairman of Shamrock Rovers since 2020. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Has your role significantly changed in the last 30 years? As more money has gone into the game, what do you think has been the biggest change? 'Some of the numbers are certainly bigger because there is more money in the game than there was, and they are going to different destinations that we didn't have before. But I think the actual advice is more or less the same, albeit with different figures than you would have in the past. You need the various pieces I mentioned earlier, the various supports you have around the player. But how it's changed, the game from our side, it's more complicated. Now, it's more people involved, nutritionists, psychologists, and other professionals involved than the players would have had 20 years ago. And that's all for the good, it allows people to be a bit more secure in what they're trying to achieve, on and off the pitch. But from our point of view, the actual services we provide are probably the same as they were.' As you alluded to earlier, I think people don't realise how common it is for footballers post-retirement to end up bankrupt, and are seriously struggling financially. Do you guys continue to regularly advise athletes after they retire? 'Of the clients we have, many of them are retired. So our real value tends to come after they finish playing professionally, and helping with that sort of financial piece afterwards. I think people are certainly more aware of that, the financial pitfalls, which is good, but there are some cases where people have made bad investments. And post-career, the income has dropped significantly. There's no chance to replace that income in a quick way. So you're trying to survive in that world and also deal with that transitional piece, because never mind the financial piece, the transition out of professional sports is very hard for most people to try to find where they fit into life after that, and what role do they have. Some people get involved in business. Some people get involved in media, TV, and coaching, but those options in the latter industries are quite limited. So it's important that that base is there, and finance is not one of the challenges they have, so they can decide what they want to do next in their lives. Coming out of football, if you're lucky, at 35-36 years of age, you have to find something to do with yourself. So that's why having the cash to retrain, to invest in some business you want to, to get involved in some business, is very important.' You've worked with many high-profile athletes and observed them in close quarters. Do you think there is any characteristic they share? 'There are common traits — that drive people have to be really elite in sport. It also applies to their private lives. So they will want to be successful, and they are quite focused on getting the best advice around. So at the elite level of it, they have different challenges as well when they finish playing, which are not financial. But I think the trends we would see are that people are much more focused now than they would have been even 20 years ago, about planning their business affairs in a different way than they would have done before. I do think, and this is a generalism, that a lot of the Irish players are tightly managed through their family, agents and close advisors. And there is a general protection around them from a business point of view. And most of the Irish players, if they go abroad, will tend to ultimately come back to live here in Ireland. So when they're buying property or buying assets as well, that's part of the planning they would do. So there would tend to be an Irish angle to it as well. But that's what we see. We would have acted for international players as well, but I think the Irish focus is slightly different.' And as we touched on earlier, as time has developed, increasing amounts of money have been put into sport, which creates big egos. Is it ever a challenge to persuade them to go with your advice, with so many people around them and whatnot? 'I suppose, because you're involved in so many aspects of their day-to-day lives, the trust tends to build up quite quickly, so they would listen to you. And if that trust is not there, the relationship won't last anyway. But if you're with people, with players, you tend to be with them for quite a long period. So I think that there is trust that what you're giving them is solid advice, and they will listen, in the main, irrespective of profiles of the individual, that is to say, what level you're at in the sport at a point in time.' You've got a lot going on with various commitments. Is it a challenge to balance everything? 'I'm very lucky to work in a space where I actually love sport. I love working in sport, so I'm blessed to get the opportunity to work with such high-performing individuals. It's fantastic. So it's not a chore at all. It's very enjoyable.' I've seen you described as the most influential person in Irish sport, but you wouldn't be a household name among sports fans. Are you happy with it that way? 'For sure. That's a headline. That's not true, right? But low-key is much better for us. And we should be low-key financial advisors and business advisors to people. So, yeah, that's a much better way for us.' You were involved in the historic equal pay deal for the Irish men's and women's teams. How difficult was that to get over the line? And did it take you a long time to negotiate? 'There was a huge amount of goodwill around the table at the time between the FAI, the men's team, and the women's team. So it wasn't difficult to get across the line, to try and get the maths right, but it was a very positive discussion and very positive outcome. It was great to be involved in that. But it wasn't a difficult conversation.' As you mentioned before, the League of Ireland has evolved into a more professional beast. There have been financial difficulties with various clubs in the past. But are you confident that the league as a whole will continue on this upward trajectory and there won't be a return to the bad old days? 'I hope so. I think the limitations we have are primarily around the infrastructure investment. If we can get that right, I mean, collectively get that right, I think the opportunity is huge. There's certainly a lot more professionalism in how the clubs are run around the league, and because of the interest from fans and sponsors and media, it has grown into something. I think there's future growth definitely in there, both domestically and in Europe. We are making an impact collectively in Europe as well. So I would be very hopeful that it will go the right way. The academy investment is also quite important to make sure that the next generation is coming through. Lots of clubs have been doing a lot of really positive work around the academies, and hopefully, the support will come and the income will come from a combination of grants and commercial interests to allow it to flourish. But there are real positive structures in place there, so hopefully they can invest to bring through the next generation of players. The signs are pretty promising at the moment.' And finally, what advice would you give to a young footballer reading this? 'I suppose it's important to listen to those close to you. Keep the advisory group quite small. But first of all, go and focus on developing your football career. Let the other piece be managed by others, to allow you to focus on what you want to focus on and not chase crazy returns, crazy investment opportunities. Just be measured in your approach and enjoy your career for as long as it lasts.' This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
