Luke Littler and Luke Humphries have been slammed for “letting their country down” following England’s dismal World Cup performance over the weekend. The duo, who hold the top two positions in the PDC Order of Merit, crashed out in their first match of the tournament, losing 8-4 to Germany.
England had been tipped to waltz to victory in Frankfurt, having boasted a formidable pairing made up of the previous two World Championship and Premier League victors. It came 24 hours after Littler and Humphries received MBEs for their contributions to sport, but according to darts icon Dennis Priestley, the two shouldn’t have been given them in the first place.
Speaking to OLBG after the pair’s disastrous World Cup campaign, Priestley explained: “Luke Littler and Luke Humphries let their country down at the World Cup of Darts, 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.”
He added: “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.”
Littler and Humphries, unless one of them pulls out, will almost certainly return to represent England next year at the World Cup, given the chances of them being overtaken by any other countryman in the rankings are slim. Regardless, Priestley wants to see Littler get his head down and focus on throwing arrows for the remainder of the year.
The former world champion concluded: “Luke Littler’s team needs to shield him from all distractions [including new McDonald’s sponsorship] and make sure he gets all the best advice because he is still so young. I hope he reads this because my advice would be it’s not about how much money you earn now, it’s about how much you’ve kept when your career comes to an end.
“He has his head screwed on but the important thing is that the darts remains the priority rather than all the sponsorship deals he keeps being offered.”