The darts world is buzzing with controversy following Gerwyn Price’s pointed remarks about Luke Littler and Luke Humphries’ shock exit from the 2025 PDC World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt. The English duo, ranked No. 2 and No. 1 in the world respectively, entered the tournament as top seeds and reigning champions, with Humphries having secured the title alongside Michael Smith in 2024. However, their campaign ended abruptly in the second round with an 8-4 loss to Germany’s Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko. Price, a former world champion and Welsh darts icon, attributed their defeat to a lack of team chemistry, sparking a heated debate that has drawn responses from Humphries and two-time PDC champion Adrian Lewis.
Price, who reached the final with teammate Jonny Clayton before falling 10-9 to Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney, didn’t hold back in his assessment of the English pair’s performance. “When we all turned up—and I’m not just saying this because they lost—the only two players who didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together, didn’t play as a team… I’m not saying who they are, but they didn’t win their first game,” Price told reporters. “You need to turn up together, you need to be as a team. You practice together, you sit together. It’s a team ethic, and it didn’t show with England, and it showed on the board. They’re great players individually, but you need to be a team. I wanted them to do well, but they were rubbish.” His comments suggested that Littler and Humphries’ lack of camaraderie off the oche contributed to their subpar averages of 93.34 and 36.36% on checkouts, a stark contrast to their usual dominance.
Humphries swiftly refuted Price’s claims, insisting that he and Littler were united despite their early exit. Speaking at the US Masters, the 2025 Premier League champion set the record straight: “There was a lot of talk about me and Luke not being a team, but coming from the horse’s mouth, I can assure you we were a team. We didn’t arrive at the same time, no, because I said not to. I told Luke, ‘Do your own thing.’ There’s no point in us trying to change the ways we play. He gets there about two hours before, I get there four hours before. I need more practice, he don’t. All that stuff about us not being a team was not true.” Humphries emphasized their mutual respect, noting that they were “well up for playing together” and got along well, despite the loss.
Adrian Lewis, a four-time World Cup winner with Phil Taylor, offered a different perspective, attributing the defeat to inexperience rather than a lack of team spirit. “They didn’t seem to click, did they? They didn’t seem to get into the right rhythm,” Lewis said in an interview. “But it was always going to be a tough ask against Germany, in Germany, with the crowd against them as well. Obviously, it was Luke’s [Littler] first time there, and I think it was only the second time for Luke Humphries. They just haven’t got the experience yet in that field.” Lewis expressed confidence in their future, suggesting that the duo would learn from the setback and return stronger in 2026, much like his own successful partnerships with Taylor.
The loss was particularly stinging for Littler, the 18-year-old prodigy who has taken darts by storm, and Humphries, the 2025 Premier League winner. Their defeat came against a formidable German pair, buoyed by a hostile home crowd, which some speculated added pressure. Sky Sports commentator Wayne Mardle also weighed in, noting, “Luke and Luke were no doubt feeling the stresses and strains of being massive favorites. They buckled, and their opponents didn’t.” Despite the disappointment, Littler and Humphries remain formidable individual talents, with Littler leading the Premier League standings and Humphries defending his World Matchplay title in July 2025. As the darts community looks ahead to the US Open and beyond, Price’s critique has ignited a broader conversation about teamwork and preparation in high-stakes competitions, with all eyes on whether England’s dynamic duo can silence their critics in future events.
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