“The two Lukes looked like rabbits in headlights” — Russ Bray shocked by Littler & Humphries' World Cup of Darts exit

An absolutely enthralling World Cup of Darts came to a captivating end last Sunday night, with Northern Ireland running out victors for the first time in a nail-biting last leg decider over Wales.

Following the conclusion of the event, one of the most well-known former darts referees of all time in Russ Bray was invited onto UK radio station talkSPORT’s breakfast show on Monday morning, joining Jeff Stelling, Dean Saunders, and another guest on the show, Lee Westwood, to discuss all things World Cup related.

Bray considered the event to be a standout moment for the sport, having attended the event in person and hearing the German crowd in full voice across the weekend: “I was very fortunate — I was right at the back of the stadium doing other things, but the noise and the crescendo were just amazing. The match itself was absolutely sensational. That’s certainly been the best World Cup we’ve ever had.”

“When you look at Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney, the two boys played as a team. Rock was doing all the power scoring, Gurney was finishing it up. With the two Lukes, they looked like rabbits in headlights," said Bray. "They couldn’t get their game going. They were under a lot of pressure because of the hype — world number one and number two — everyone expected them to win. That caught up with them. They’re both very much individual players.”

Bray also noted the potential for the doubles format itself to play out of the hands of the star-studded English duo, and how that potentially played into the hands of other nations, although not the ones he expected: “The two Lukes are rhythm players, but they were out of rhythm. They throw their three darts and then have to wait for another nine before they’re back on again. There’s a lot involved in that.”

Bray was then asked by Stelling, previously a part of Sky Sports’ coverage team back in the early days of the PDC, what has prompted the rapid evolution of darts, and he was quick to highlight how increasing competitiveness has been to the games advantage: “In our day, with all the Blackpools and so on, it was all very minimal. Now it really is the fastest-growing sport on the planet. I still do the Asian Tour regularly, and now you’re seeing players from Hong Kong making the last eight, guys from Malaysia and the Philippines in the last 16. The game has gone worldwide. It’s brought everyone together.”

“There are no outright winners anymore. There’s no more: ‘Phil Taylor’s going to win it,’ or in the 80’s you’d say: ‘Bristow’s going to win it,’ but that doesn’t happen now. The field is too deep, too strong."

Finally, the most expected question of all came from Stelling, with Bray sharing a measured take on the meteoric rise of Luke Littler and the challenge that faces him from next year onwards: “Luke Littler will prove his worth in two to three years. Right now, he’s defending no money, so everything he earns goes on his ranking. That’s why he’s shooting up. But after next year, when he has to start defending the money he’s earned over the past two years, that’s when you really see how good someone is.”

“In two years, he’ll be defending £500,000 — same with Luke Humphries next year. That’s the real pressure. He had nothing to lose before — now, he has to maintain it. You have to win just to stay where you are. Look at Michael Smith — he was riding the crest of a wave, and now he might be out of the top 30.”