Luke Humphries insists he holds no 'animosity' towards Luke Littler after the teenager's nine-darter helped him lift the Premier League crown.
In a repeat of the World Championship final, Premier League debutants Humphries and Littler faced off for the £275,000 prize.
Nothing separated them before the break as the score was 5-5, but Littler went nuclear when he returned by immediately hitting his fourth nine-darter of the year.
That sparked a run of legs for Littler as Humphries had no answer before the 17-year-old saw out the match to become Premier League champion.
There was clear respect between both players after as Humphries embraced a tearful Littler on stage.
Luke Humphries has no animosity towards Luke Littler
PA
Humphries did complain about a strong breeze on stage that affected him during the Premier League play-off.
However, he refused to use that as an excuse for his loss to Littler before speaking about the respect he has for the 17-year-old.
"What's the point in animosity in this game?" Humphries said.
"If you walk into a room and you have animosity against someone, it's not a nice place to be around.
"We're around each other all the time and I don't want to have animosity towards him.
"I'm sure he'll come in and tell you he doesn't have animosity around me.
"We just get along and that sometimes happens in sport.
"There's many sportsmen that just don't get along because they're enemies, because they think that each other is better than the other.
"I don't think we think each other's better than the other. We both know how good we are and we have utmost respect.
"I love that about him because if he didn't have that respect for me I would feel a little bit hurt because I've achieved a lot more than he has.
Luke Humphries has plenty of respect for Luke Littler
REUTERS
"But he has got that respect for me which I like and I've got that respect for him because we both get along well, we both relish each other's talent."
Speaking in the press conference after, Humphries was also asked whether he felt it necessary at any point to try and put Littler off.
"I wouldn't want to do that," Humphries retorted back.
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Luke Littler hit a nine-darter in the final
PA
"It's not cheating, but I don't want to put him off because at the end of the day if I do things like that that I've had against me then I'm trying to do things that are not natural.
"I'd rather beat him at his best and I think he'd rather beat me at his best.
"If I do things to put him off, what does that make me?
"It doesn't make me a real champion does it? I want to play him when he's at his best. I would never, ever try and put any player off."
