02/07/2024

“This is up there with my best achievements”: Sheer pride for England duo after World Cup of Darts triumph

Defeating Austria in the final, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith finally brought the World Cup of Darts back to England with sheer pride being the overriding emotion for two players who have won World titles.

For England, it is the fifth overall victory at the World Cup of Darts, but the first since 2016. In addition, it is the first time a duo other than Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis has won the overall victory for England.

“It just clicked against Northern Ireland when we played Josh Rock and Brendan [Dolan],” said Smith. “We played well against Scotland and in the final Luke was incredible. He just cleaned up everything. Luke kept telling me in the break, don’t worry, it doesn’t matter what you’ve missed, you’re going to get the winning shot, and he was right!

“I went to run off [in celebration] and then I saw Luke chasing me! I thought: ‘What’s going on?!’

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“I have never felt that before because I never thought someone would be running after me. It was a weird feeling, but it’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.”

“This is up there with my best achievements. My first major win was obviously the most incredible feeling, and when you win the World Championship, that feeling cannot be topped,” said Humphries.“This is up there for me though. That incredible feeling of emotion that I got running through my body when Michael hit that winning double – you know you’ve done it, you’re World Cup champions.“It’s not every day you get to play for your country, let alone win for your country, so I’m super proud.”

“This is a different feeling. I’m really proud of the way we both played in that final. We played fantastically as a team and we didn’t really let anybody get near us. We said if we played our own game there’s nobody that can touch us, and that’s what happened.“I know my finishing was great, but Michael’s first three darts each leg were fantastic most of the time, and that set the tone for the tournament. In my opinion Michael is the best scorer in the world. That’s the reason he went first, and that’s why we made it so tough to play against us.”