Humphries clears up Price's comments about him and Littler after World Cup loss

Daily Mirror

a day ago

Luke Humphries has responded to Gerwyn Price's comments on him and England World Cup team-mate Luke Littler, after the pair were surprisingly dumped out of the tournament
Luke Humphries has hit back at Gerwyn Price 's claim that he and Luke Littler weren't a unified team at the World Cup, insisting that the Welshman was wrong. The English pair were the clear favourites going into the tournament earlier this month.
They had also entered Germany - the location of the tournament - as the reigning world champions, with Humphries having won the previous edition last year alongside Michael Smith after defeating Austria 10-6.
‌
However, they were left stunned after falling to a surprising defeat in the second round to Germany, with Ricardo Pietreczko and Martin Schindler securing an 8-4 victory. In what was their first match of the tournament, Humphries and Littler made a speedy return back to England from Frankfurt.
‌
While England were left lamenting their failure to defend their crown, Wales stormed to a resounding 8-2 win over the Philippines on the same day, thanks to Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton. The Welsh duo were in exceptional form throughout the tournament, eventually making it to the final after triumphs over Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
These wins led to a showdown with Northern Ireland, who, represented by Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock, clinched their first ever World Cup title in a narrow 10-9 victory. Following their defeat, Price criticised the disappointment shown by Humphries and Littler, attributing their failure to a lack of unity between them, reports the Express.
"I think you need to have a connection," he said. "You need to have that camaraderie off the stage and connection because when we all turned on the first day - and I'm not just saying this because they lost - but the only two players that didn't turn up together, didn't sit together, didn't play as a team.
"I'm not saying who they are but they didn't win their first game. You need to turn up together, you need to be as a team. You turn up as a team, you practice together, you sit together. It's a team ethic and it didn't show with England.
"It showed on the board. They're great players individually but you need to be as a team. I wanted them to do well, but they didn't. I'm not just saying that! I wanted them to do well, but they were rubbish."
‌
At the US Masters on Thursday, Humphries responded to speculation about his partnership with Littler at the World Cup. The 2025 Premier League winner addressed comments indirectly referencing Price's remarks, assuring fans that they were indeed a united front.
"There was a lot of talk about me and Luke not being a team, but coming from the horse's mouth, I can assure you we were a team," he told Online Darts. "We were. We didn't arrive at the same time, no, because I said not to.
"I told Luke, 'Do your own thing.' There's no point in us trying to change the ways we play. He gets there about two hours before, I get there four hours before. I need more practice, he don't.
"So I said to Luke, 'Just do what you do before, don't change yourself for me.' All that stuff about us not being a team was not true. We were well up for playing together, we got along really well. It just didn't happen and that's it."