Luke Humphries relishing renewal of Luke Littler rivalry after World Cup triumph

Luke Humphries is relishing the chance to renew his rivalry with Luke Littler after the pair teamed up to secure England’s record-extending sixth BetVictor World Cup of Darts victory.

The world number one and two entered the team event as heavy favourites and duly justified that tag after a dominant 10-5 triumph against second seeds the Netherlands in Sunday’s final.

Littler averaged 108.22 in the showpiece contest to add another trophy to his burgeoning cabinet, while Humphries collected his second winner’s medal in an England shirt after his success with Michael Smith in 2024.

That marked the eighth successive final for the 31-year-old and he is thrilled to return as Littler’s main antagonist following their successful union in Frankfurt.

“My brother text me saying ‘this is your eighth final in a row’. Four Premier League (nights), the Premier League final, Copenhagen final, the World Cup final and the Pro Tour final,” Humphries revealed.

“That’s eight on the trot that maybe not should have won, but could have won a lot more than I did.

“It was important for me to go on the stage this weekend and win on it because I said last week that I was disappointed with myself not to win against Michael (van Gerwen at the Nordic Masters).

“But I said to myself it’s up to me to go and push Luke, make us work hard and pick up a trophy off that big stage, that TV stage, and I did that.

“It’s great for me as a singular, but this is a team event and it’s not about me, it’s about us together.”

He added: “We’re going to have some great games over the next six months, we’re going to be battling for the Matchplay, the Grand Prix, the Europeans and the Worlds, and we are going to have fun with that because we get on really well off stage.