Victory in Germany for Luke Humphries, as England win World Cup of Darts

Luke Humphries helped England to a record fifth World Cup of Darts title, as he and Michael Smith beat Austria in Sunday’s final.

Victory was secured in Frankfurt, as the pair dispatched France, Northern Ireland and Scotland to seal England’s first win since 2016, when Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis won.

Humphries’ back-to-back 130 and 140 checkouts were enough to beat the Northern Irishmen, before the pair produced clinical performances to knock out rivals Scotland in the semis.

The pair of Peter Wright and Gary Anderson made their presence known, with Wright jokingly asking how Humphries’ shoulders were faring, implying that he was carrying the English side.

Michael Smith would later jab back, saying how Wright “should have some strong shoulders because he's been holding the Premier League up for two years!”

In the final, Humphries would do his talking on the stage, averaging 113 and converting four ton-plus checkouts in a spectacular display.

Smith’s power scoring coupled with Humphries’ precision on the doubles would be enough to beat Austria 10-6 in a final played in good spirits.

“This is the biggest buzz I’ve felt since the World Championship”, Luke said.

“We really wanted this. We really believed we could win it, and when you’ve got the world number one and world number three playing together, it’s a bit of a cheat code!

“After that first game on Saturday we just clicked. We knew if we played our best we could win this title, and I just hope we get to come back to defend this title as champions next year.”

Teammate Smith said how “it is hard to put into words how much this means. England are World Cup champions again and it’s not just Phil and Adrian, it’s now Luke and Michael as well.”