Luke Humphries has vowed to be Luke Littler’s protective presence as the teenage sensation prepares to face a hostile crowd in Germany. The English duo are teaming up for the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, where they will aim to defend the country’s title. However, for 18-year-old world champion Littler, it will be a baptism of fire as he returns to Germany for the first time since a tumultuous experience in Munich back in April.
After a 7-4 loss to Gian van Veen at the German Darts Grand Prix, Littler had initially planned to steer clear of German tournaments, only to find himself drawn back in for the World Cup. Now, world No. 1 Humphries, who led England to victory alongside Michael Smith last year, is pledging to watch Littler’s back – while also thrusting his young partner into the spotlight to boost their chances of success.
Humphries said: “It will be me that probably decides who throws first, but I will probably put him first, to be honest, because you play to your strengths.cLuke is definitely the best scorer in the world. That’s not a lie, it’s obvious. So you’re going to put your best foot forward.
“He is probably better at going for the bullseye than I am, winning the throws, but only if he’s comfortable with it. If not, I’ll go first but I played the anchor role last year.
“I could have said I’ll go first last year because I was the highest-ranked player, but I said to Michael, ‘You’re a fantastic scorer, you’ve done it before, you go ahead and set the standard and I’ll follow you’ – and it worked. I felt really good going second, so maybe that is my role for this year as well.”
Littler’s hostile reception in Munich may be a taste of what’s to come in Frankfurt, particularly if top seeds England, who enter the World Cup in the second round, end up facing home favourites Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko.
Humphries confessed: “It’s just a matter of not getting involved in the crowd isn’t it? We’ve got to make sure that if they’re on his back, I’ll be there to say, ‘Don’t worry about what they’re doing, focus on your game.’
“And if we play against Germany, that’s going to be hard – but I think he’ll learn from the occasions of playing against crowds that are hostile.
“I’ve been there, I’ve had it a little bit before and you just have to focus on the game and not worry about what is going on behind you.
“Of course it’s going to feel special for him to wear the England shirt and it did for me. As you saw when we won last year, when the emotion comes pouring out, you don’t expect it but it does because you’re just so buzzing.”
Humphries added: “It’s really special and he will understand. He may even feel a little bit nervous at the start, or for the first game we play because all eyes are on us, everyone will be expecting us to be powerful every game we play.
“But I did say to him, ‘It doesn’t matter how we play. As long as we win the trophy, that’s what really matters.’ It will be a special feeling for him, as it was for me.”
Humphries and Smith’s semi-final match against Scotland last year was intense, with Humphries and Peter Wright engaging in some heated rivalry, reigniting the historic England-Scotland feud.
The newly-crowned Premier League champion acknowledged: “I wasn’t involved but you do get dragged into it. I think it’s good. Some people don’t like it and think it’s people being too hard on each other, but it’s a bit of fun.
“I’m obviously not there to upset people, I’m just there to win, but a little bit of needle, a little bit banter never hurt anybody as long as it doesn’t go too far.”