Luke Humphries follows Luke Littler in hitting back at former World Darts champion after ‘let country down' jibe

The Sun

4 hours ago

LUKE HUMPHRIES has followed the lead of Luke Littler and hit back at Dennis Priestley's explosive claims that the pair 'let their country down' following an early World Cup exit.
Two-time world champion Priestley, 74, slammed world No.1 Humphries and reigning world champion Littler for losing in the second round to hosts Germany last weekend.
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It was their first appearance together in the team format but disappointingly the pair were beaten 8-4 by Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko amid a cacophony of boos from the Frankfurt crowd.
The English duo were red-hot favourites to claim the title heading into the event.
But Wales star Gerwyn Price said that the two Lukes did not arrive together nor spend enough time in each other's company – and essentially failed to gel behind the scenes.
That shock defeat came the day after it was announced the two Englishman – the top two on the world rankings – were going to receive recognition in the King's Birthday Honours List.
Straight-talking Yorkshireman Priestley also said in his chat with bookmakers OLBG that neither player had 'done enough to earn their MBEs just yet'.
Cool Hand Luke, 30, lifted the World Cup crown with Michael Smith in 2024 and has vowed to return next year with The Nuke by his side.
The former world champion said on his social media account: 'Disappointing to hear a top former pro who I admired say such a damaging thing to me and Luke.
'I didn't let my country down last year though, did I?
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'One bad game for us and we will back next year to go again. Let's move on now.'
On Thursday, Littler screenshotted an article that contained the quotes and captioned it up as saying: 'Don't deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did …
Being made an MBE shows I've helped 'change face of darts' says Luke Humphries
'That's what I would say anyway.'
That message was later deleted off his Instagram Stories.
Littler is the most recognisable figure in the sport and his Instagram account mushroomed to 1.9 million followers shortly after he burst on to the scene in December 2023.
His next appearance on the oche will be at the bet365 US Darts Masters, which will be held on June 27-28 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.