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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Germany's Martin Schindler Niko Springer set to play in last 16 at Baltic Sea Darts Open
Saturday's second round of action of the Baltic Sea Darts Open was full of upsets and young stars prevailing. Several high seeds fell in shocking defeats, leaving a fun lineup for Sunday's last 16. Advertisement Germany's stars prevail in Saturday's action, headline Sunday's third round Several European Tour events take place in Germany, but this one feels special. Germany's Niko Springer and Martin Schindler picked up big wins, as they will face one another in Sunday afternoon's session, with a quarterfinal spot on the line. Springer defeated the number two seed, Stephen Bunting, 6-2 in the second round. An average of 100.72 was too much for Bunting to overcome. MORE: 2025 Baltic Sea Darts Open: Draw, schedule, prize money and format explained Schindler took care of business against Jermaine Wattimena in the second round, winning his first game of the weekend, after having Friday off. Advertisement Belgium's Andy Baetens is putting together a strong campaign these past couple of days, beating Raymond van Barneveld on Friday and Rob Cross in a 6-2 win on Saturday. He'll face Gary Anderson in the round of 16, with hopes of making it to his first career quarterfinal on the European Tour. Damon Heta, a recent European Tour finalist and Players Championship event winner, lost to a determined Wessel Nijman. Nijman is now ranked 18th on the year-to-date OoM. An event win this weekend would get him into the top 15. MORE: These 3 major PDC stars didn't qualify for the 2025 World Matchplay of Darts Advertisement Nijman has steadily been climbing the Main OoM, but with him only starting to play more regularly in the last 12 months, the year-to-date rankings show how consistent he has become. Sunday's lineup should be an exciting and unpredictable one. Several players like Nijman and Springer have made strong cases this weekend and recently, with it only being a matter of time before they earn their first European Tour event title. MORE DARTS ARTICLES:
The Sun
16-06-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Is Luke Littler and Luke Humphries' friendship all a facade? Inside England stars' World Cup of Darts disaster
NOT SINCE the pairing of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard at the 2006 World Cup had two Englishmen fail to click and proven so uncoordinated on German soil. Luke Humphries and Luke Littler arrived in Frankfurt as the top two players in the world and red-hot favourites for the PDC World Cup of Darts. 8 8 8 Expectations were so high that they would be victorious that Phil Taylor was saying they should be given the trophy before a dart was even thrown in anger. But World Cups can cause all manner of surprises and discombobulating displays – as England's Golden Generation found to their cost 19 years ago. Gerrard and Lampard were among the best midfielders of their era, goal-scoring machines for Liverpool and Chelsea. Yet despite their god-given talents, it never really worked for them in tandem when they donned a Three Lions shirt. Humphries and Littler are the best darts players of this era but they were crushed in their opening game by the Germans. So, why didn't it work? Why did it go so spectacularly wrong? Well, underdogs Martin 'The Wall' Schindler and Ricardo 'Pikachu' Pietreczko rose to the challenge superbly, winning their second-round tie 8-4 on Saturday evening. There is history between the two Lukes and pesky Pietreczko – Littler clashed with him at last year's Belgian Darts Open, and Humphries gave it back to German fans at Ally Pally after he eliminated the Berlin-born star. 8 The hostility that greeted the English duo when they walked out was unusual for darts – so, do not underestimate the impact that had on the No.1 seeds. The noise was ear-splitting and we all know Littler has little time for Deutschland fans. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries BOOED by German crowd on day they got their MBEs but fans love their 's---house' walk-on Twice before, in Berlin and Munich, Littler had been left unhappy with the reception he got from punters. The previous time it had happened over Easter, he wrote on Instagram he was glad he would not be back in the country until Dortmund in October, seemingly forgetting all about the World Cup in June. He might be the world champion and a global icon but we forget that Littler is still only 18. The Nuke stormed off stage, albeit after shaking hands, and just like when he lost the Premier League Final to Cool Hand Luke, he shows his emotions whenever things go against him. 8 8 But as NFL legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said: Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. Parallels could be made with another England midfielder, Jude Bellingham, who is a stellar talent but is prone to outbursts and temper tantrums in difficult moments. Littler is not yet in that same league but this is a huge setback in his career – his first senior England appearance ending amid a cacophony of boos and regrets. It was so deflating that, the day after they had been recognised in the King's Honours List, Sky Sports pundit Wayne Marde joked: 'How quickly can MBEs be taken away?' What was telling was the observation made by Gerwyn Price, whose Wales side lost 10-9 to Northern Ireland in the final. In one of the revealing interviews this year, the Iceman claimed 'rubbish' England lacked 'a connection' and had no 'camaraderie off the stage'. He said: 'When all the teams first turned up on the first day, the only two players who didn't turn up together, didn't sit together, didn't play as a team. 'You need to turn up together. You need to be as a team. You practice together, you sit together, it's a team ethic. 'It didn't show with England and it showed on the board. They are great players individually. But you need to be a team.' 8 World No.1 Humphries and reigning world champion Littler are always so polite and respectful on stage, fist-bumping each other's high checkouts. But is it all a facade? Are they really as compatible off the oche as they make out? Can they ever put aside their fierce rivalry for this team format? Humphries is 12 years older than Littler and is like a big brother but if Price is right, they will have to work on their connection in a team situation. They came over to Germany as the bookies' front-runners but were gone after 12 legs. At least Gerrard and Lampard managed four games together at the 2006 World Cup before their quarter-final exit. 8
The Guardian
14-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
England crash out of World Cup as Littler and Humphries humbled by Germany
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were left reeling as England's hopes of retaining the World Cup of Darts were torn apart by Germany. The world's top two players slipped to an 8-4 second round defeat at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, where Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko made the most of the backing of a partisan home crowd to seal a comprehensive victory. Littler and Humphries, who both received MBEs in King Charles's Birthday Honours, were made to pay for missed doubles with the 18-year-old in particular turning in an off-colour display in a country where he has endured previous disappointments. A delighted Schindler, who had insisted in advance that the English duo were 'beatable', told Sky Sports: 'I was right because we believed in ourselves. 'We have been putting in a solid performance, and obviously the double 16s from Ricardo just went in, so we are very happy to go through. Today was one step and tomorrow is the other. That's it.' Booed by the home crowd, Littler started nervously and the Germans took the first two legs, but his 123 check-out put England on the board before a 64 finish levelled it up at 2-2. However, the teenager missed three darts at a double in the fifth leg to allow Pietreczko to win it with a 106 out-shot, and another in the sixth as the Germans restored their advantage. And after Humphries had hit 25 rather than bull going for 122, they went in at the break 5-2 ahead. Pietreczko took out 101 after the resumption before Germany went 7-2 up and although Littler and Humphries took the next two, they eventually succumbed as a return of just four doubles from the 11 chances they created ultimately proved costly. Germany's reward is a quarter-final tie against Australia, who routed Argentina 8-1 with Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock proving too strong for Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin despite missing 21 of their 29 attempts at doubles. Twice-winners Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton secured Wales' passage with a resounding 8-2 win over the Philippines. The Welsh pair, who claimed the crown in 2020 and 2023, powered their way through to a last eight clash with Hong Kong with the minimum of fuss despite the first three legs going against the darts. However, Scotland's Peter Wright and Gary Anderson found themselves on the wrong end of a demolition job as they went down 8-0 to the Netherlands in just 15 minutes. Danny Noppert and the world youth champion, Gian Van Veen, who took out 130 to claim the fourth leg on Scotland's throw, were in inspired form, averaging 100.2 and converting eight of the 12 darts they had at doubles to breeze through to a meeting with the Czech Republic. William O'Connor and Keane Barry eased the Republic of Ireland to a showdown with neighbours Northern Ireland after an 8-3 victory over Switzerland in which they were always in control. Northern Ireland were comfortable winners over South Africa as Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney eased them to an 8-2 success. Elsewhere, there were wins for the Czechs over Malaysia and Hong Kong against Sweden.
The Independent
14-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
World Cup misery for England as Littler and Humphries are knocked out in Germany
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries suffered World Cup misery as England's hopes of retaining the World Cup were torn apart by Germany. The world's top two players slipped to an 8-4 second round defeat at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, where Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko made the most of the backing of a partisan home crowd to seal a comprehensive victory. Littler and Humphries, who both received MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours, were made to pay for missed doubles with the 18-year-old in particular turning in an off-colour display in a country where he has endured previous disappointments. A delighted Schindler, who had insisted in advance that the English duo were 'beatable', told Sky Sports: 'I was right because we believed in ourselves. 'We have been putting in a solid performance, and obviously the double 16s from Ricardo just went in, so we are very happy to go through. 'Today was one step and tomorrow is the other. That's it.' Booed by the home crowd, Littler started nervously and the Germans took the first two legs, but his 123 check-out got England on the board before a 64 finish levelled it up at 2-2. However, the the teenager missed three darts at a double in the fifth leg to allow Pietreczko to win it with a 106 out-shot and another in the sixth as the Germans restored their advantage, and after Humphries had hit 25 rather than bull going for 122, they went in at the break 5-2 ahead. Pietreczko took out 101 after the resumption before Germany went 7-2 up and although Littler and Humphries took the next two, they eventually succumbed as a return of just four doubles from the 11 chances they created ultimately proved costly. Germany's reward is a quarter-final tie against Australia, who routed Argentina 8-1 with Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock proving too strong for Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin despite missing 21 of their 29 attempts at doubles. Twice-winners Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton secured Wales' passage with a resounding 8-2 win over the Philippines. The Welsh pair, who claimed the crown in 2020 and 2023, powered their way through to a last eight clash with Hong Kong with the minimum of fuss despite the first three legs going against the darts. However, Scotland's Peter Wright and Gary Anderson found themselves on the wrong end of a demolition job as they went down 8-0 to the Netherlands in just 15 minutes. Danny Noppert and world youth champion Gian Van Veen, who took out 130 to claim the fourth leg on Scotland's throw, were in inspired form, averaging 100.2 and converting eight of the 12 darts they had at doubles to breeze through to a meeting with the Czech Republic. William O'Connor and Keane Barry eased the Republic of Ireland to a showdown with neighbours Northern Ireland after an 8-3 victory over Switzerland in which they were always in control. Northern Ireland were comfortable winners over South Africa as Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney eased them to an 8-2 success. Elsewhere, there were wins for the Czechs over Malaysia and Hong Kong against Sweden.
Telegraph
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries dumped out by Germany in World Cup of Darts
It was not meant to happen like this; not for a nation with such darts pedigree and not after the world's best two had been given MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours List. But Luke Littler and Luke Humphries suffered a World Cup nightmare as defending champions England were dumped out of the Darts World Cup by hosts Germany in the second round. The English pair trailed 2-0 and 5-2 to Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt and eventually went down 8-4. World champion Littler, who has struggled in Germany in the recent past, was far from his best in front of a partisan crowd in his first appearance in the competition. The pair, who walked out to Vindaloo by Fat Les and sporting matching white kits, were also booed on their way to the oche, though Humphries appeared to see the funny side of this. GERMANY KNOCK ENGLAND OUT OF THE WORLD CUP OF DARTS! 🇩🇪😲 — Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) June 14, 2025 It was a fate some had predicted. According to half of the Scotland team, Peter Wright, Humphries and Littler might not click. He told BBC Sport Scotland: 'Look at the amount of really good England teams that have been paired up and they haven't clicked, like James Wade and Phil Taylor.' He added: 'I know he played as a youth for England, but whether he can do it in the seniors, I don't know. They might go out and bash everybody up, but I am thinking they won't click.' The Scots also crashed out after an 8-0 loss to the Netherlands, with Wright and Gary Anderson losing out to Gian van Veen and Danny Noppert. Wales, meanwhile, defeated the Philippines 8-2, Northern Ireland beat South Africa 8-2, and Ireland beat Switzerland 8-2 in their round-of-16 clashes.
