MARDLE: HUMPHRIES BERATES HIMSELF TOO MUCH

LUKE HUMPHRIES has been warned about berating himself too much during matches.

The defending Premier League champion has endured a frustrating start to the campaign and is still yet to claim a nightly win after nine weeks. 

‘Cool Hand’ currently sits sixth in the table and suffered another setback in Manchester, losing 6-2 to Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals. 

World No.2 Humphries has reached just one nightly final so far this season, a dip from the form that saw him dominate last year’s competition. 

Former pro Wayne Mardle believes Humphries’ biggest issue is not his ability but his reaction on stage. 

He said: “All I didn’t like tonight was that he kept berating himself way too often. Every time he missed a treble actually, which is not like him. 

“So I don’t know if he is feeling under pressure, I have no idea. I don’t know if it is table orientated. I don’t know if it’s the fact that he should be winning. 

“But when he is at it he will win. He’s got to be confident and he is still in a good position. It is still in his hands and there are still enough points to pick up. 

“If he plays well for the run-in and I don’t mean from next week, the last four or five weeks, I think he will be absolutely fine.” 

The Sky Sports pundit also insisted the race for fourth place in the play-offs remains wide open. 

He added: “To me, it feels like there is only one position. Don’t rule out Van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, Humphries. 

“I am not saying Bunting cannot get in there. Rock just kind of wants to get himself going again. 

“I believe that it is still so open. Come that last week or penultimate week of the league phase, it is going to be paramount who you are playing. 

“Not just who you beat, who you are playing. If you beat the right people, you are laughing.  

“If you are losing to those below you and they are not catching you, that is not a disaster. 

“When you are chasing that play-off place, you cannot lose to those above you until maybe the last week, where someone has sailed off into the sunset.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.