Humphries' loss
Darts world champion Luke Humphries lost to Luke Littler while secretly grieving the death of his nan
Humphries waited for the right moment to reveal his loss to the public
GRIEVING Luke Humphries has revealed the family heartbreak he suffered only three weeks after becoming world darts champion.
Yet the world No.1 declined to share the news far and wide to avoid accusations it was an excuse for his maiden displays in the Premier League.
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After winning in Brighton on Thursday night, Cool Hand Luke admitted he had been hit hard by the sudden death of his beloved granny Ivy, who passed away two months ago aged 91.
The Berkshire battler found out on Saturday January 27, the day he lost to Luke Littler in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Darts Masters.
Humphries, 29, said: “A lot of people didn’t know some things that were going on behind-closed-doors, like my nan passing away.
“It was really, really tough for me. I found out the second day in Den Bosch.
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“It was really hard to play that game against Luke Littler. But I did.
“I was really close to my nan. You have to try and battle through it.
“Nothing was wrong with my nan. Then one day she was in hospital. And she passed away on that same day.
“Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get to come back and see her before she died. These things happen in life.
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“It was tough for me to deal with, as I didn’t get to process it like most people did, especially like most of my family.
“The last time I saw her was the night I celebrated my world championship trophy with my grandad in Newbury.”
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The funeral took place last month when there was a Players Championship event in Leicester going on in his absence.
Humphries’s form has picked up considerably over the past few weeks and he was match darts away from edging out Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh to win the UK Open last Sunday.
However, it was only in a moment of success, like his breakthrough result on the Prem circuit by the south coast, that he felt compelled to speak out publicly about what had happened off the oche.
Humphries said: “All my family had been saying: ‘Has it affected you a little bit?’ Well, maybe it did.
“They said, come on, it’s your time to let it go now. I think I have now. I have accepted it and I feel much better.
“Since the funeral, I feel like my head has been in a better space.
“The reason I didn’t say it before was because I didn’t want to do it in a moment where I felt like people were going to think it was an excuse.
“I’d rather do it in a moment where everything is going well and people will not see it as that.
“If I had come out and told people everything, they’d have said, it’s an excuse.
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“As nasty it is, that’s why I tried holding it back a little bit until something good happened.
“You never know what comments you may get back on it. You know how nasty some people can be.”
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