\n<\/p>\n
Lim met Englishman Humphries in the first round of the 2021 World Championship and, on that occasion, Lim was a 3-2 winner.<\/p>\n
The odds of a repeat are unlikely, given Humphries – who is 41 years younger than Lim – has gone on to have a spell of nearly two years as world number one and won multiple major titles, including the world crown in January 2024.<\/p>\n
“If anything, I’m thankful for Paul winning that game because it changed me as a player and it changed me as a person,” Humphries said after beating Ted Evetts in round one.<\/p>\n
“Three months later, I’d lost about four stones and I was in a major final [at the 2021 UK Open]. It helped my career.”<\/p>\n
On those comments, Lim said: “To come across a champion who is as humble as him – when he said that, it was really a compliment to me. I’ve got nothing ever bad to say about Luke.<\/p>\n
“With every defeat or every win, there is a spark somewhere – you’ve got to find it to spark you in the right direction. I can’t say that loss made him a world champion, but maybe it created that spark within himself to look at something differently and it turned out well for him.<\/p>\n
“He is definitely a different Luke Humphries. He was good then, now he is great. It’s an honour to hear him calling me a legend.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n