Lim faced England’s Humphries in the first round of the 2021 World Championship and on that occasion, Lim won 3-2.
The chances of a repeat are unlikely given that Humphries, who is 41 years younger than Lim, spent a nearly two-year period as world number one and won multiple major titles, including the world crown in January 2024.
“If anything, I’m grateful that Paul won that game because it changed me as a player and as a person,” Humphries said after beating Ted Evetts in the first round.
“Three months later I had lost about four stone and was in a major final. [at the 2021 UK Open]. “It helped my career.”
Of those comments, Lim said: “Meeting a champion who is as humble as him; when he said that, it was really a compliment to me. I never have anything bad to say about Luke.”
“With every loss or every win, there’s a spark somewhere; you have to find it to push you in the right direction. I can’t say that loss made him a world champion, but maybe he created that spark within himself to look at something different and it turned out well for him.
“He’s definitely a different Luke Humphries. He was good then, he’s great now. It’s an honor to hear him call me a legend.”
