Humphries reveals shoulder injury almost forced him to miss Czech Open

LUKE HUMPHRIES revealed a shoulder injury almost forced him to miss the Czech Darts Open.

The world No2 had been unsure whether he would even travel to Prague just 48 hours before his second-round clash.

Humphries, 31, shrugged off the concerns to hammer Beau Greaves 6-2 with a 109 average and keep his bid for a FOURTH title alive.

Cool Hand knew he had to raise his level after feeling flat in his previous outing.

He said: “I knew I had to play a lot better than I did last week.

“I felt flat last week, and I know I had a good record against Dirk. Maybe that affected me because I kind of felt like I was just trying to get the job done. I knew I had to play really well there.”

Humphries also praised Greaves for establishing herself as a genuine threat against the sport’s biggest names.

He added: “She’s a woman, of course, everyone knows that, but she’s just a great darts player.

“When you come up against her and play against her, you don’t look at her as a woman. You look at her as a fantastic darts player.

“She’s taken away the mould from that sort of situation because if I’d lost today, I wouldn’t have been disgraced.

“It’s not like I’ve lost to a woman. I’ve lost to a really good darts player, and that’s it.

“There’s no disgrace losing to her. I think she’s brought that on herself and made it very normal. She is just a fantastic player.

“Anybody else tonight, maybe she wins.

“But I was just on form. I knew I had to play that well to beat her, and I did, because if I didn’t play as well as I did, I would have lost.”

Humphries’ performance was made even more remarkable by the doubts over his fitness before the Euro Tour event.

He continued: “Again, I’ve got a slight injury in my shoulder and I wasn’t going to be here 48 hours ago.

“I seem to play better when I’ve got an injury, so it’s really weird. But I knew I had to play well there.

“She’s an amazing player and she pushed me all the way. It was just a couple of bits at the end there that got me through.

“It’s like the Grand Slam last year. I woke up in the morning, got out of bed and it had gone again.

“I have to give a massive shout-out to my physio John on Thursday, who really worked hard, because I wasn’t going to come here on Thursday.

“But I saw myself in the draw and I thought, I can’t let the fans down.

“It’s still not the best, but it is what it is. I seem to play well when I’ve got injuries, so it’s really strange.

“But I’m here and I’m going to be fighting for the title, because I’ve seen my name up there three times in five years and I’m like, I want it again. That’s why I’m here.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning