Luke Humphries has clapped back after being accused of ‘letting his country down’ alongside Luke Littler at the World Cup of Darts. The two players teamed up to represent England and went into the tournament as the overwhelming favourites to claim the spoils. However, it went spectacularly wrong when they were dumped out by Germany in their first match.
Having received a bye to the knockout stages, the England duo were nowhere near their best as they slipped to an 8-4 defeat. It came just days after they were awarded MBEs, prompting Dennis Priestley to suggest they were undeserving of that recognition. He also accused the pair of ‘letting their country down’ after they fell short in the biggest shock of the tournament.
Humphries took to social media on Friday with a pointed response, showing his true colours by jumping at the chance to defend Littler in spite of their dreadful showing in Frankfurt.
“Disappointing to hear a top former pro who I admired say such a damaging thing to me and Luke,” wrote Cool Hand on X (formerly Twitter).
“I didn’t let my country down last year tho did I? One bad game for us and we will back next year to go again. Let’s move on now.”
It comes after Littler issued his own response to Priestley in a snappy Instagram post, which he deleted shortly afterwards. The Nuke said: “Doesn’t deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did… that’s what I would say anyway.”
Priestley was considered one of the game’s best players during his career and won the World Darts Championship on two occasions. He did not hold back when reflecting on England’s dire World Cup campaign earlier this week as he laid into Humphries and Littler.
“Luke Littler and Luke Humphries let their country down at the World Cup of Darts,” said Priestley. “From what we’ve heard, they weren’t sitting together or practising together.
“When I was playing in pairs with Phil Taylor we practised together and sat together, we played all over the world and I only remember us getting beaten once.”
Asked for his thoughts on the England duo being recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours, Priestley replied: “To be brutally honest, I don’t think either Luke Littler or Luke Humphries have done enough to earn their MBEs just yet.
“I think in time they could’ve done enough to warrant it but it feels very early. They have both won one World Championship each and are still young in their careers.
“Littler has been recognised for raising the popularity of darts which is great, but he can still do so much more. If he is getting an MBE this soon then you’d have to think he is on the right path to a knighthood. Nothing would surprise me now.”