6 hours Ago By [email protected] (Samuel Meade)
Luke Humphries has laughed off James Wade's claim that he's lazy - instead claiming he's the hardest worker on tour. Wade singled out Humphires and Luke Littler - the two most recent world champions - as the best players in the game but claimed they can both be quite lazy . The 41-year-old, who has fallen outside of the world's top 10, stopped short of putting either of the Lukes in the same category as Phil Taylor or Michael van Gerwen with his comments provoking a response from Humphries.
Wade said: "I don’t believe anyone is amazing apart from probably Luke and Luke and, after that, they can be quite lazy. They’re not Phil Taylors, they’re not Michael van Gerwens at their best, but they are phenomenal players. But there’s gaps in the market and it is what it is.
" Wade's comments did little to aid his cause against Littler on Saturday night as he was torn apart by the teenage sensation. Littler, recently 18, won every available leg as he cruised to a 4-0 victory, which booked his spot in the quarter-finals at the World Masters. Humphries meanwhile opted to address Wade's comments after he made light work of Josh Rock.
He will now take on Damon Heta in the last eight and maintained he's often putting himself through his paces when no one else is. "I'm searching for something better. I’m really happy with my performances over the last 18 months, I’ve been really good, but if you’re going to keep up you’ve got to get better and I want to set the standard.
There’s no player that works harder than me. "Yesterday, I was the only player here practicing because I want to be performing at the highest level. I want to challenge Luke [Littler], Michael [van Gerwen and Gezzy [Gerwyn Price], I don’t want it to phase out and not to aspire to something great.
"I’m working incredibly hard and that’s all I care about. If it doesn’t work out for me then so be it. But all I can tell myself is I’m working hard from the ability I’ve got and I’m just trying to find something that can make me even better and challenge everybody.
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