Luke Littler headbutted a wall during emotional celebrations as England defeated Wales in the World Cup of Darts. The young world champion and Luke Humphries produced a remarkable fightback in a nail-biting final-leg decider against Wales to secure their spot in the semi-finals, before they defeated Scotlana and the Netherlands to win the competition.
Doubts had surrounded the star pairing of Littler and Humphries following their early elimination at the hands of Germany during last year’s tournament in Frankfurt, with both players determined to demonstrate their true calibre this time round. And the teenage sensation was visibly emotional after clinching victory against Jonny Clayton and Nick Kenny representing Wales, celebrating frantically before striding over to a wall and headbutting it in extraordinary scenes captured on camera.
Wales had stormed into a 4-0 advantage and stood 5-2 up at the interval; however, England surged following the restart, with the Warrington ace Littler finishing 170, en route to a closely-fought 8-7 triumph.
Clayton broke in the opening leg and held serve in the next with double 16 before Kenny checked out 72 and displayed his nerve to step back and finish 17 for a 4-0 lead. Humphries got England off the mark in the following leg before Littler broke with an 84 finish on the bull, but Wales promptly responded to reach the break with a three-leg cushion. England burst out of the blocks in the second session, with Reading’s Humphries eliminating the deficit before Littler nailed double tops as the formidable pairing took the lead for the first time in the contest.
Wales drew level but Littler reeled in the big fish, to the delight of the Frankfurt crowd, to nudge England back in front. Kenny forced a deciding leg but missed 84 to snatch victory as Littler found double two to set up a monumental showdown against Scotland.
Scotland maintained their impressive run of form to overcome the Republic of Ireland 8-5 in their last-eight clash. Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies, who whitewashed Norway in the last 16, stretched their unblemished start to the competition to 11 legs on Sunday afternoon. Menzies, making his tournament debut, coolly checked out 82 before Anderson followed up with a 120 finish as they stormed 3-0 ahead.
However, England got the last laugh against the Auld Enemy as they defeated Scotland 8-3 to advance to the final. The Luke duo vanquished former demons, winning the entire tournament, thrashing the Netherlands 10-5 to secure the trophy.
Littler was full of pride for his performance alongside Cool Hand Luke, stating: “I’m absolutely delighted. That’s the best we’ve played all tournament. That’s what we needed to be doing. We can’t be doing the rest.
“We’ve had tough challenges over the past two days, and this was our best performance because we needed to put it in. We got the job done. Delighted.”