
Luke Littler and Humphries told 'you buckled' in England darts disaster as Gerwyn Price fires Wales World Cup warning
The Welsh are on course and Price reckons the Lukes didn't handle the World Cup expectation
Pumped-up Gerwyn Price has dished out a fierce World Cup warning as Wales stay firmly on course to rip the crown back from England.
The Iceman and partner Jonny Clayton are now favourites to win the coveted darts title after the shock Saturday demise of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries at the hands of hosts Germany.
Price and his compatriot are into the last four having taken care of Hong Kong in Sunday afternoon's quarters and the ex-World Champion has told the rest that anything offered up by opponents during the final session will be fired straight back in spades in the chase for the trophy, which the duo won in 2020 and 2023.
He said: 'We weren't at our ultimate best there, but we keep improving. I think we improved from the last game and, every game we go through, we improve again. Whatever anyone throws at us, we'll throw a little bit more back. So, yeah, bring it on.'
Price and Clayton went seven darts in an attempted nine during their win and the Ferret smiled: 'I was thinking it's time for a nine darter in the pairs, but I was closer to home than treble 19! Never mind, I tried..'
Wales play Netherlands in the semi-final shootout after Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen built on their whitewash of Scotland to hammer Czechia.
Hosts Germany backed up their famous English win with a thrilling last-leg success over Australia, who missed a match dart from Damon Heta to win. Home hero Martin Schindler hit the winning shot and said: 'We needed to fight our way through and that's what we did. If you want to be amongst the best, you need to grow over your own limits and that is what I always try to do. Partner Ricardo Pietreczko added: 'It's unbelievable to reach the semis. On the Tour, we are opponents and now we are a team. And we are winning it!'
Germany play Northern Ireland, who beat the Republic, in their semi and Schindler said: 'I have to say Josh [Rock] and Daryl [Gurney] are a good pair, but so are we and I think we have a chance to beat them and I think they have more pressure than we do as they have the higher rankings. We just want to win.'
As the Welsh, Germans and Northern Irish fight for the title, fans of the sport are still stunned at the shock loss of the English super-team and Wayne Mardle they 'buckled' under the pressure and weight of expectation.
The former World Championship semi-finalist and Sky TV commentator said: 'Luke and Luke were no doubt feeling the stresses and strains of being massive favourites. To go on about how good Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis were, they made it look easy. That is how difficult World Cup pairings can be. Pressure got to them at some point, Luke and Luke. They buckled and their opponents didn't.'

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