Star duo triumph for England at World Cup of Darts

Luke Humphries and Michael Smith guided England to a record-breaking fifth World Cup of Darts title with victory over Austria in Frankfurt on Sunday.

Following a thrilling four days of action at the Eissporthalle, World Cup debutant Humphries and Smith delivered the goods to secure England's first World Cup triumph since 2016.

Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis were the only players to have lifted the World Cup title for England since the tournament's inception in 2010, but Humphries and Smith created their own history with a 10-6 success on German soil.

The top seeds had kicked off their title bid with a resounding 8-3 win against France on Saturday, before closing out successive 8-4 victories against Northern Ireland and Scotland on Finals Day.

Humphries landed back-to-back 130 and 140 checkouts to catapult England to victory over Brendan Dolan and Josh Rock, and the English duo produced another clinical display to deny Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in the semi-finals.

This set up a showdown against 2021 runners-up Austria for the coveted title, and Humphries took centre stage, averaging 113 in the final and converting four ton-plus checkouts to cap off a mesmerising display.

The world champion conjured up a superb double-double 18 finish in leg four, and that sparked an astonishing sequence of big finishes as England took control.

Smith produced the power scoring and Humphries delivered at the double, converting 151, 121, 130 and 112 combinations to inspire England to a landmark triumph.

Austria displayed some mid-game resistance to reduce the arrears to 6-4, although Humphries and Smith were undeterred, winning four of the next six legs to prevail with a superb 100.62 average.

"This is the biggest buzz I've felt since the World