Honest Luke Humphries admits Peter Wright backed up his big-talk to rip-off his world crown.
But Cool Hand insists he’ll be back stronger after relinquishing his title. Humphries bit back at Wright before the fourth-round contest after the Scot claimed he had no fear of the World No.1. The Englishman said his rival would look a fool if he didn’t follow-up on his words.
But Wright did just that to hammer Humphries 4-1 and the deposed champion doffed his cap to the 2020 and 2022 king of the World Championship. He said: “Peter played fantastically and backed up what he said pre-match, so fair play to him. I probably put too much pressure on myself, but I thought I played okay. I’m still the World No.1 and this result won’t deter me from going on to win more. I know that if I’m going to be playing this sport for 20 more years, I’m not going to win it every time.
“And, if someone puts in a performance like that against you, you have to accept that the better player won. I wasn’t at my best, but I wasn’t terrible by any means and I’ll bounce back. I will still sleep well and look forward to next year. There’s a long season ahead of me. We have another 12 months before we come back here and do it all again, but I want to win more in between that.
“I’m not looking towards next year’s World Championship yet, but when we’re back here next year, of course I would love to get my title back. I don’t see my career ending as a one-time World Champion. I do feel like I will win more.”