Luke Humphries’ shock thrashing at the hands of Mike De Decker raised plenty of eyebrows.
But it turns out there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for ‘Cool Hand’s’ uncharacteristic performance at this year’s Australian Darts Masters.
Humphries slumped to a 6-0 whitewash at the hands of the Belgian during the quarter-finals in Wollongong.
Yet it turns out Humphries was battling more than just De Decker at the oche.
“Thanks to everyone for the messages asking how I’m doing after not feeling well these last few days,” Humphries wrote on Instagram.
“I’ve got bad flu and have spent most of my time resting in bed.
“I saw a doctor here in New Zealand today and was prescribed antibiotics to help me recover.
“Hopefully I’ll be feeling better in time for Friday’s matches.”
Humphries’ revelation comes after he conceded he hadn’t been practising as much as he should have been.
Following his 6-3 win over Jonny Tata, in which ‘Cool Hand’ overcame an early 2-0 deficit, Humphries said: “I’ll start practising harder again because I have neglected it, I’ll be honest, since the Premier League.
“I think when you’re in the Premier League, you’re playing all the time, you don’t neglect it, you’re on the bell.
“But since that Premier League, I’ve just not had the mindset to want to practise a lot. That’s my fault. That’s me being guilty.
“It’s not been one of the things I’ve done in many, many years of my life. Usually I’m quite consistent with practising, but I’ve been guilty of it.
“When I come back from that holiday, I’ll be back on it and really have that energy in charge to try and have a good back end to the year.”
When is Humphries back in action?
Humphries will aim to bounce back from his display in Wollongong and his illness in time for the New Zealand Darts Masters, which gets underway on August 15.
The event in Auckland marks the final regular World Series event on the calendar before the World Series Finals in Amsterdam on September 12.
Going into the penultimate event, Stephen Bunting sits atop the rankings with 46 points.
‘The Bullet’ has won two events on the World Series in calendar, with his victories coming in Bahrain and Copenhagen.
Gerwyn Price is eight points behind Bunting in second on the rankings list, with Luke Littler – who won this year’s Australian Darts Masters – and Rob Cross in third and fourth respectively.
Humphries sits in fifth on 24 points, three fewer than Cross.