England won the World Cup of darts on Sunday evening for the first time in eight years – after the champion duo clashed with a fellow top star.
World Champion Luke Humphries teamed with 2023 winner Michael Smith to try and secure the crown for the first time since 2016, and delivered as they defeated Austria 10-6 in the final.
That came after a semi-final victory over Scotland, which involved a few heated words that continued until after the final as Premier League rivals clashed.
Humphries and Smith beat Scotland duo Peter Wright and Gary Anderson 8-4 in the last four of the competiton, with passionate celebrations on show from the eventual champions in Germany.
That came before some fighting talk from Smith in particular in the post-match press conference on the back of some words from Wright, with the Englishman targeting the Scot’s recent Premier League performances.
Michael Smith (right) and Luke Humphries (left) clashed with Peter Wright at the World Cup of Darts at the weekend
The duo were confronted by Scotland player and rival Peter Wright (right) before the two teams’ quarter-final match
Wright had said that his side were going to ‘smash up England’ before they clashed at event
Smith later quoted the video shared by Sky Sports with a photo of his and Humphries’ medals
A video shared on the official PDC darts X (formerly Twitter) account showed Humphries celebrating back stage, seemingly after England had got the better of Northern Ireland in their quarter-final clash.
As he and Smith walked past the Scotland pair, Wright said: ‘How are your shoulders, Luke?’ to which Humphries replied: ‘My shoulder?’ and muttering another sentence as Wright and Anderson laughed off the comment.
After beating Sweden, meanwhile, Wright had said on Sky Sports: ‘We are going to smash up England.’
Smith took exception to Wright’s comments after the tournament, saying: ‘We won the quarters and Peter Wright walked past, asking Luke how his shoulders were. The guy has just averaged 78 and he’s trying to give me s***.
‘Then we had an argument, not an argument, but he was trying to give me a bit of banter backstage. Peter, you’re not good enough mate. It’s just the same as everything else, and that guy should have some strong shoulders because he’s been holding the Premier League up for two years.’
Later, on X, Smith would quote Sky Sports’ video of Wright’s words with a picture of him and Humphries with their winners medals, accompanied by five ‘kiss-face’ emojis.
The jibe from Smith came after Wright, who was part of the Scotland side that won the World Cup in 2021, again finished bottom of the Premier League.
He won just two matches across 16 weeks of darts, as opposed to Smith’s 17 and Humphries’ 20. Humphries reached the final of the competiton, losing to eventual winner Luke Littler.
In the 2023 edition, he also finished bottom, winning just five matches, with fans questioning his inclusion in this year’s competiton.
Smith made a jibe at Wright’s Premier League record, with the former world champion finishing bottom i nthe last two years
He also targeted Australia player Simon Whitlock (left), who had suggested the England pair would struggle to play together
Humphries replied to both of Smith’s X posts with a series of mocking emojis on his own account
Wright has been known not to mince his words when it comes to his opponents, previously telling The Mirror of Luke Littler’s Premier League debut: ‘It’s his first Premier League, as soon as he starts getting beaten up, on the floor and in the Premier League again, no one is going to hold him and make sure he’s alright.’
It was Smith, however, who carried on the fighting talk after Australia’s Simon Whitlock has said of the England duo: ‘They are both amazing players but I don’t think they’ll work together.’
Smith quoted a video of the words on X, replying: ‘That aged well,’ accompanied by a series of ‘laugh-face’ emojis as he tagged Humphries.
Humphries replied to both of Smith’s posts with a series of emojis mocking his rivals.
