HUMPHRIES BATTLES BAD FLU DOWN UNDER

LUKE HUMPHRIES revealed he’s battling a “bad flu” after crashing out of the Australian Darts Masters. 

World No. 1 Humphries was whitewashed for only the SEVENTH time in his career after losing 6-0 to Mike De Decker in the quarter-final at Wollongong. 

‘Cool Hand’ unusually had a flat demeanor and offered only a muted fist bump to the match referee and opponent before play. 

Eight-times major winner Humphries later revealed illness had taken its toll at the oche. 

He wrote on Instagram: “Thanks to everyone for the messages asking how I’m doing after not feeling well these last few days.  

“I’ve got bad flu and have spent most of my time resting in bed. 

“I saw a doctor here in New Zealand today and was prescribed antibiotics to help me recover.  

“Hopefully I’ll be feeling better in time for Friday’s matches.” 

It’s a frustrating blow for the Cheshire thrower who lifted the US Masters trophy in June with an 8–6 victory over Nathan Aspinall at Madison Square Garden. 

The New Zealand Darts Masters commences this Friday and is the final stop before September’s World Series Finals in Amsterdam. 

Humphries also admitted he will not fully turn his attention to adding to his Premier League and PDC World Masters wins in 2025 until he takes part in September’s Czech Darts Masters. 

He added: “I’ll start practising harder again because I have neglected it, I’ll be honest, since the Premier League. 

“I think when you’re in the Premier League, you’re playing all the time, you don’t neglect it, you’re on the ball. 

“But since that Premier League, I’ve just not had the mindset to want to practise a lot. That’s my fault. That’s me being guilty. 

“It’s not been one of the things I’ve done many, many years of my life. Usually, I’m quite consistent with practising, but I’ve been guilty of it. 

“When I come back from that holiday, I’ll be back on it and really have that energy in charge to try and have a good back end to the year. 

“I’m on holiday straight away after I come back from New Zealand for 10 days. 

“As soon as I come back from that holiday, I think the next one I have after that is the Czech Darts Masters. that’s when I’ll be on it.”

Images by Taylor Lanning.