Darts

A DARTS match ended in bizarre fashion when a player accidentally injured himself on live TV.

The Modus Super Series International Pairs matchup between Wales and South Africa had fans in disbelief when one player pretended to punch another, only for it to inadvertently end in injury.

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The tie, which was being played between Richie Burnett and Kurt Parry of Wales and Carl Gabriel and Devon Peterson of South Africa, ended in a 4-1 victory for the Welshmen.

And after a sensational 112 checkout from Parry to earn the victory, Peterson playfully pretended to punch Burnett for getting the better of him and his teammate.

Burnett, 58, tried to play along with the friendly playfighting by pretending to go flying as a result of the punch.

But his overenthusiastic reaction ended up leaving him with a real-life bump on the head, after he crashed into a TV in the corner of the room.

Fortunately Burnett seemed absolutely fine, giving his head a rub and laughing off the gaffe.

Fans loved the unusually hilarious moment and reacted on social media.

One labelled it as the “funniest end to a darts match ever.”

While another wrote: “We need Richie on the TV box more often”.

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Burnett, affectionately nicknamed The Prince of Wales, is a fan favourite in darts.

The experienced thrower went viral last year for the unusual technique he showed at the oche by tossing the tungsten on one leg.

While his humble beginnings have made him relatable to the masses.

Reflecting on a dark period in his life, Burnett previously admitted that he once had so little money he could not afford a kettle for boiled water.

Burnett told the Mirror: “When times were hard and I had no money, I was in Wigan for a tournament and bought myself a Pot Noodle for my tea.

“But I didn’t have a kettle to boil water for it. The only thing I could do was drain the radiator in my room and use the hot water from that.

“It was all soily and brown but it worked and the Pot Noodle went down okay.

“But I’d used a pair of nail scissors to open up the valve and it wouldn’t shut again, so hot brown water was leaking out.

“All I could do was put a tray underneath to catch it all. I didn’t get much sleep because I had to get up every hour to tip the water down the sink.”

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PHIL TAYLOR has broken down the blueprint that he believes is needed to topple Luke Littler.

The Nuke is one of the best at the oche at the moment and could become a legend of darts if he continues his current success.

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Littler, 18, is the current world champion and has won multiple major honours since his stunning breakthrough in 2023.

The Warrington thrower is seen as one of the most destructive players at the oche for his sky-high averages.

The world No2 is the youngest player to ever claim the triple crown as he won the Premier League, World Matchplay and World Darts Championship.

But legend Taylor, 65, reckons he knows the secret to disrupting Littler’s flow, which his rivals should take note of.

The Power has insisted that Littler’s rivals need to “slow down” matches with Littler.

Taylor claims that due to young stars practising by themselves are not used to a slower-paced match.

He revealed the blueprint during an interview with the MODUS Super Series of Darts.

He said: “Yeah, a lot of that [throwing the darts quickly] comes because youngsters practice on their own.

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“So, they don’t have that person slowing them down.

“I used to try and practice with somebody if I could to keep me in that rhythm of playing.

“So, that is why a lot when a player plays a younger player [like Littler], they start slowing them down to put them off because they are not used to it.

“Anybody who plays Luke Littler will slow their throw down.”

This year has been a success for Littler as he has already won the World Darts Championship, World Matchplay, Belgian Darts Open and UK Open among others.

Littler will be back in action at the Flanders Darts Trophy which begins TODAY.

He takes on Irish ace Dylan Slevin in round two on Sunday in the evening session.

LUKE LITTLER has learned to block out the haters and hecklers, saying: I just let my darts do the talking.

The Nuke is heading to Auckland for part two of his Down Under jaunt this summer.

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The 18-year-old banked £30,000 on Saturday when he beat Belgian thrower Mike De Decker 8-4 in the final of the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong.

It was his fourth success on the World Series of Darts circuit and was equally impressive given that he had not practised ahead of this 21,000-mile round trip.

Every time he failed to hit a treble during the evening’s three games, a group of locals shouted out “rubbish, rubbish” and someone even bizarrely said he was “washed”.

This comment perplexed Littler but it is believed to mean he is supposed to be washed-up and not as good as he used to – which is clearly not the case.

The more he wins, the more he will be targeted by irate punters but even for someone so young, he has learned to rise above it all.

There have been times in Germany where he has been singled out and he was asked if he had gotten used to dealing with a portion of the crowd being on his back.

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Littler, in his second season as a pro, said: “For myself, the first time I hear it, I will obviously do something, but then I will let it go by.

“Just do my darts. Let the darts do the talking.

“No-one has taught me how to deal with much. I just get on with things. You are on stage alone.

“No-one else is with you. No-one else is going to help you unless it’s a few guys from the crowd. Yeah, you have just got to get on with it.”

Littler – who is on the two-week trip with new girlfriend Faith – is in good form and in a good mood, telling his rivals that his confidence is sky high.

No-one else is with you. No-one else is going to help you unless it’s a few guys from the crowd. Yeah, you have just got to get on with it.

Luke Littler on dealing hecklers while on the stage

An early-morning flight to Kiwi country means shifting his body clock by another two hours – he has already said he struggles with jetlag on the other side of the world.

Last year, the Warrington teen was defeated in a last-leg decider 7-6 by world No.1 Luke Humphries in the semi-finals at the Globox Arena in Hamilton.

Littler, the newly-crowned World Matchplay champion, says he has a policy of practising hard for the big TV events but for the smaller ones, he will simply rock up and do his thing.

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The world No.2 said: “I’m very happy. My debut last year in Australia didn’t go to plan. But second time lucky.

“I want to be winning things. We look to New Zealand next week.

“I will enjoy this. But then it’s an early flight again. An extra two hours ahead – so I will definitely be needing some sleep.

“It’s only my second time coming to New Zealand. I didn’t do much last year.

“We can make the most of four to five days and then once it comes to Friday that is when the darts starts again.

“I’m feeling confident. This is the most confident I have felt in a very long time.

“For myself I know how much I will practise, how much I have been doing.

“But yeah I practised really well for the World Matchplay and won it. I think I will practise for the big ones.

“As a player, you are on stage for a long time. You practise leading up to it and when you are on stage, you gain that confidence.

“You get warmer and you find those four or five gears.”

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ADRIAN LEWIS loves how the fearless Luke Littler behaves on the oche – and has no issue if his records are wiped out.

Littler, 18, heads Down Under this week to take part in World Series of Darts events in Australia and New Zealand.

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His last appearance on the oche saw him lift the Betfred World Matchplay – beating James Wade 18-13 in the final in Blackpool to complete the sport’s Triple Crown.

In the semi-finals, The Nuke hit a stunning nine-darter against Josh Rock and instead of going wild at the feat, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

Almost like Lewis, 40, used to do after perfect legs, as if to say: ‘Well, what else do you expect from someone as talented as me?’

When the tournament was over, Littler had hit 64 180s across five games, eight more maximums than the previous record of 56 set by Jackpot in 2013.

Far from feeling angry or jealous, Lewis approves of the audacity of Littler’s antics, saying: “I love it. Anything like that, I think it’s great for the game, you need characters.

“I have said it for years, I do believe that, and Luke is certainly one of them.

“First of all, him reaching the world final on his first appearance at Ally Pally was unbelievable.

“To do what he has done since, becoming world champion and still maintaining his form, he’s a credit to himself, his family and the sport.

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“The sport is in good hands. The two Lukes, and Josh Rock, they are all very professional, they do their jobs.

“That is what darts needs. It is becoming more and more professional as time goes on.

“The Matchplay was definitely up there. The standard of it throughout was brilliant.

“Luke Littler hitting a nine-darter always helped. The semis-finals and final made it a great, great tournament.”

Later this month, Lewis will mark his return to televised darts – after a near two-and-half year absence.

The two-time world champion last threw competitive darts in front of the cameras at the PDC’s UK Open in 2023 at Butlin’s Minehead.

After that tournament, he decided to walk away from the sport for family reasons and having fallen out of love with the game.

His wife Sarah has “an incurable kidney disease” and his son “has autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)”, which has meant his full-time concentration and care.

His comeback will be the MODUS Super Series in Portsmouth at 10pm on Thursday August 28 – and should it all go well, he may attend PDC Q School in January.

If he regains his professional Tour Card, he will be reunited with old sparring partner Wade, who turned back the clock to reach the Matchplay final last month against expectation

Stoke-born Lewis said: “I don’t think James dropped below a 100 average all the way through the tournament, which takes some doing itself.

“To still do that after he has been playing for 20-odd years, he’s a credit to the sport as well. I think he is very underlooked a lot of the time.

“Certainly, to me he has been the best finisher in the world over the last 20 years.

“He deserves more respect, definitely. That might put him in the Premier League next year, which he thoroughly deserves as well.

“He will just go from strength to strength and get more and more confidence.

“Obviously he reached another final and I think he can do big things again.”

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Aug. 1 (UPI) — Dutch transgender darts champion Noa-Lynn van Leuven spoke out after her sport’s international governing body released a new gender-eligibility policy that bans trans women from women’s competitions.

The World Darts Federation released its new policy Monday.

“This decision does affect me personally — though, thankfully, not too severely at this point in time. But still, it hurts,” she said on Instagram. “Once again, it’s a loss for the trans community in sports. And that breaks my heart.

“As a trans person in the darts world, I know how vital inclusion is – not just on paper, but in practice. It’s disheartening to see yet another policy framed around ‘fairness’ that ultimately results in exclusion, without truly considering the people behind the labels.

“My heart goes out to all the athletes impacted by this. We remain visible. We keep going.”

Opinions in darts remain divided, Darts World posted.

“From what’s been seen online, a significant portion of darts fans appear to support the WDF’s position — viewing the inclusion of trans throwers such as Van Leuven in the women’s game as an unfair advantage.”

The rule change states that entry and participation in the federation’s women’s and girls ranking tournaments and cups will only be open to players who were “recorded female at birth.” Under this policy, trans women are ineligible, and trans men are eligible as long as they are not undergoing hormone treatment. All trans women and trans men are eligible to compete in the open category.

Van Leuven, a star who has won several women’s titles in the sport, will be banned from WDF’s women’s tournaments under the new guidelines, effective immediately.

In a statement announcing the change, the federation said the decision followed a vote at the WDF General Meeting in September where the majority of its members voted in favor of limiting participation in women’s and girls tournaments to those assigned female at birth.

“I played all right there,” Clayton told Sky Sports. “Total respect to Stephen, he didn’t play his best game but I kept him under pressure at times. I played well.”

Earlier in the evening, Wade found himself 4-1 down to Van Veen, despite dominating almost every leg as poor finishing cost him.

But the Englishman came out with renewed determination after the break and won the next eight legs on the spin to take control.

Although Van Veen closed the gap and finished the match with the better average – 99.24 to 96.35 – and a better checkout percentage, Wade did enough to see it through.

“I thought I’d thrown it away,” the 42-year-old told Sky Sports. “Towards the end, he was coming back and it was God’s gift to me, not my ability [that secured the win].

“I had a very stern word with myself [after the first session], I was disgusted. You do what you need to do.

“I’m lucky he didn’t make the most of his opportunities. But then if I’d made the most of mine, I’d have been 5-0 or 10-0 up. I’m proper buzzing.”

The third and fourth quarter-finals take place at Winter Gardens on Friday evening with world champion Luke Littler facing Andrew Gilding, while Wales’ Gerwyn Price takes on Josh Rock of Northern Ireland.

Luke Littler survived a real scare before fighting back to beat Jermaine Wattimena 13-11 in a thriller to reach the World Matchplay quarter-finals in Blackpool, but three-time champion Michael van Gerwen is out after defeat to Josh Rock.

World champion Littler looked out of sorts at Winter Gardens as he slipped 4-0 and then 7-2 behind against Dutchman Wattimena.

After pulling one leg back immediately before the second break, a clearly fired up Littler let out a roar of delight and gestured to the crowd that he was not going home just yet.

Littler returned from the break reinvigorated, winning six legs in a row, but Wattimena rediscovered his composure and the two players traded blows to send the game to a tie break

Littler missed two match darts as the nerves began to show, but after making the third he once again roared in celebration and pointed to the star on his shirt, which signifies his World Championship victory.

“When I pointed to the star on my shirt, I’m a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need it,” Littler told Sky Sports.

“I’ve not felt pressure like that since the first round of the World Championship. I was a bit nervous and it’s on to my third game here, I’ve won two of them.

“I want to get back on stage and right now I can’t wait to be in the quarter-final.”

Van Gerwen made a flying start against Northern Ireland’s Rock, taking the opening leg with a 150 checkout before surging into a 5-1 lead.

Rock narrowed the game to 6-4 at the second break only for Van Gerwen to move into a 9-6 lead and seemingly on the brink of victory.

But Rock fought back again and the momentum to swung in his favour when a superb 152 checkout cut Van Gerwen’s lead down to one, before winning the next two legs to take the lead for the first time.

Van Gerwen needed a 138 checkout to stay in the game and make it 10-10, but Rock held his nerve in a tense tie break.

“I kept my emotions, I think, throughout the game. I don’t know what was going on but I got into the game at the end,” he told Sky Sports.

“One of the most dramatic, my heart was pumping throughout the whole game. The stress has finally gone. What a game.”

Gerwyn Price stormed into the quarter-finals with an 11-3 thrashing of England’s Chris Dobey,

Welshman Price, who was involved in an angry confrontation with Daryl Gurney in the previous round, averaged 108.7, hit eight 180s and had a 146 checkout in a dominant performance.

“It was fantastic. In the middle part of the game I felt like I couldn’t miss,” he told Sky Sports. “I put Chris under a lot of pressure. I think he still played pretty decent in patches.

“I think early on we were both flying and I was just pipping him on a couple of legs, probably disheartened him a little bit. It’s a good game for me.”

Andrew Gilding set up a meeting with Littler after the former UK Open champion beat Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-5 to reach the last eight of the World Matchplay for the second successive year.

World number one Luke Humphries got the better of fellow Englishman Nathan Aspinall to claim a superb victory in the final of the US Darts Masters.

Humphries, 30, followed up his World Masters and Premier League titles with an 8-6 win in the World Series of Darts event at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Aspinall defeated world champion Luke Littler 6-4 in the quarter-finals earlier on Saturday.

“This is the most iconic venue that we play in and it’s really special to win this event,” said Humphries.

“It’s one of the top venues in the world and it’s one I’ve always dreamed of winning. When I finally won, it was an amazing relief.”

Gurney was speaking on Monday as he prepared to head for home and admitted there was no time for wild celebrations on Sunday night.

Following victory over South Africa on Saturday, the pair had to come through matches against the Republic of Ireland and Germany earlier on Sunday, before beating Wales in the decider.

It provided a mental test but Gurney commended his playing partner, whom he is tipping to reach the very top of the sport.

“Josh was immense, the best player in the competition for me,” he said.

“His scoring was unreal, he pumped them in at perfect times. He has been on fire all year, a future world champion, future major champion and just a pleasure to play with him. He made my job a lot easier.

“We made the decisions together. He wanted to throw first and I was more than happy to let him do that.”

Hitting the double eight to seal victory was a sweet moment for Gurney who had been waiting since the 2018 Players Championship for a third major title.

Out of the four players in the final, Gurney is the lowest ranked, so there were some nerves as he got ready to take out the match-winning double eight.

“Those boys have been there and done it more frequently than me over the last couple of years, so I’m still buzzing now,” he added.

ENGLAND will be represented by a double dose of Luke this week as Littler and Humphries pair up at the World Cup of Darts 2025 – and the action is unfolding RIGHT NOW!

The men’s England football team failed to bring it home during the Euro 2024, but Luke Humphries and Michael Smith made the nation proud in last year’s World Cup of Darts.

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A combination of composure and superb throwing saw Cool Hand and Bully Boy beat their Austrian opponents 10-6 in an epic final.

And it was a result that wrote England’s name in the history books as they now hold the record for the most amount of wins in the iconic competition with five.

Sadly for Smith, his world ranking positioning meant he missed out on the chance to retain back-to-back titles.

And England could have done with him after Luke Littler and Humphries got dumped out by Germany in their opening match.

Welsh stars Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are now firm favourites to lift the title.

When is the World Cup of Darts 2025?

The World Cup of Darts 2025 got underway on Thursday, June 12.

It will run over four days, concluding on Sunday, June 15.

Eissporthalle am Ratsweg in Frankfurt, Germany is the chosen venue for this iconic tournament.

Group stage matches begin at 6pm BST and then the latter stage fixtures are split in afternoon sessions (11am/12pm) and evening sessions (6pm).

The quarter-finals, semi-final and final will ALL be held on Sunday, June 15.

What TV channel is the World Cup of Darts 2025 on and can it be live streamed?

• The World Cup of Darts 2025 will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sports.
• Subscription members can stream the entire four-day event on NOW TV.
• Alternatively, SunSport will be running a live blog providing leg-by-leg coverage of the World Cup of Darts 2025.

What is the World Cup of Darts 2025 format?

There will be 40 different nations taking part at this year’s World Cup of Darts.

The top four seeded nations go straight into the second round, while the remaining 36 nations are split into 12 groups of three.

Each group winner will progress through to the second round, and then the tournament will be knockout from then on.

And each group stage game sees teams compete in a best-of-seven legs match, before the second round, quarter-finals and semi-finals are all best of 15 legs.

The World Cup final will then be best of 19 legs.

All matches are played in the doubles format, with teammates taking turns at the oche.

World Cup of Darts 2025 groups

Group A

Netherlands (Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen)

Italy (Michele Turetta and Massimo Dalla Rosa)

Hungary (Gyorgy Jehirszki and Gergely Lakatos)

Group B

Belgium (Mike de Decker and Dimitri van den Bergh)

Latvia (Madars Razma and Valters Melderis)

Philippines (Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida)

Group C

Germany (Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko)

Portugal (Jose de Sousa and Bruno Nascimento)

Singapore (Paul Lim and Phuay Wei Tan)

Group D

Republic of Ireland (William O’Connor and Keane Barry)

Gibraltar (Craig Galliano and Justin Hewitt)

China (Xiaochen Zong and Lihao Wen)

Group E

Poland (Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski)

South Africa (Cameron Carolissen and Devon Petersen)

Norway (Cor Dekker and Kent Joran Sivertsen)

Group F

Canada (Matt Campbell and Jim Long)

Malaysia (Tengku Shah and Tan Jenn Ming)

Denmark (Denjamin Drue Reus and Andreas Hyllgaardhus)

Group G

Sweden (Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak)

Lithuania (Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas)

France (Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre)

Group H

Austria (Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez)

Spain (Daniel Zapata and Ricardo Fernandez)

Australia (Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock)

Group I

United States (Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen)

Hong Kong (Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee)

Bahrain (Sadeq Mohamed and Hasan Bucheeri)

Group J

Czech Republic (Karel Sedlacek and Petr Krivka)

India (Nitin Kumar and Mohan Goel)

Chinese Taipei (Teng Lieh Pupo and An-Sheng Lu)

Group K

Croatia (Pero Ljubic and Boris Krcmar)

Japan (Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto)

Switzerland (Stefan Bellmont and Alex Fehlmann)

Group L

Finland (Teemu Harju and Marko Kantele)

New Zealand (Haupai Puha and Mark Cleaver)

Argentina (Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin)

World Cup of Darts 2025 schedule and results

Thursday June 12
From 6pm BST
Group Stage – Opening Matches

• Sweden 4-1 Lithuania
• Czech Republic 4-2 Chinese Taipei
• Croatia 3-4 Japan
• Ireland 4-2 Gibraltar
• Canada 1-4 Malaysia
• USA 1-4 Hong Kong
• Poland 4-3 South Africa
• Belgium 4-1 Latvia
• Netherlands 4-0 Italy
• Germany 4-2 Portugal
• Austria 4-1 Spain
• Finland 0-4 New Zealand

Friday June 13
Afternoon Session
From 11am BST
Group Stage – Second Matches

• Lithuania 4-3 France
• Chinese Taipei 4-2 India
• Croatia 4-3 Switzerland
• Gibraltar 4-2 China
• Canada 1-4 Denmark
• USA 4-1 Bahrain
• South Africa 4-1 Norway
• Latvia 2-4 Philippines
• Italy 4-0 Hungary
• Portugal 2-4 Singapore
• Spain 0-4 Australia
• Finland 1-4 Argentina

Evening Session
From 6pm BST
Group Stage – Final Matches

• Sweden 3-4 France
• Czech Republic 4-2 India
• Japan 1-4 Switzerland
• Ireland 2-4 China
• Malaysia 4-1 Denmark
• Hong Kong 4-0 Bahrain
• Poland 2-4 Norway
• Belgium 3-4 Philippines
• Netherlands 4-0 Hungary
• Germany 4-0 Singapore
• Austria 1-4 Australia
• New Zealand 3-4 Argentina

Saturday June 14
Afternoon Session
From 12pm BST
Second Round

• Malaysia 3-8 Czech Republic
• Hong Kong 8-4 Sweden
• Switzerland 3-8 Ireland
• Northern Ireland 8-2 South Africa

Evening Session
From 6pm BST
Second Round

• Wales 8-2 Philippines
• Scotland 0-8 Netherlands
• England 4-8 Germany
• Argentina 1-8 Australia

Sunday June 15
Afternoon Session
From 12pm BST

• Northern Ireland 8-5 Republic of Ireland
• Wales vs Hong Kong
• Netherlands vs Czech Republic
• Germany vs Australia

Evening Session
From 6pm BST
Semi-Finals
Final

England’s Luke Humphries and Luke Littler are out of the World Cup of Darts after suffering a shock defeat by hosts Germany in the last 16.

The German pair of Martin Schindler and tournament debutant Ricardo Pietreczko took advantage of a string of missed doubles and some sloppy play by the top two players in the world to win 8-4 in Frankfurt.

Humphries and Littler, who both became MBEs on Saturday in the King’s Birthday Honours, were aiming to lead England to a record-extending sixth World Cup crown – with Humphries partnering Michael Smith to victory last year.

But playing together for the first time, the tournament favourites looked far from comfortable from the start as Germany broke throw in the opening leg, cheered on by a vocal home crowd.

They recovered to level the match at 2-2 but it was Germany who rose to the occasion with some brilliant play, winning the next five legs to leave them on the brink of a famous victory.

England pulled a couple of legs back to give them hope but Pietreczko, nicknamed Pikachu, sealed a 62 checkout in the 12th leg to secure the win.

In every round of the competition, the match-ups are played as one-off doubles matches, and Clayton believes his and Price’s rugby experiences gives them an edge.

“We go out as a team, and I think the rugby background helps,” said Clayton.

“We’ve played in team games before, and I know rugby is completely different to darts, but it is the team mentality.

“We believe in each other and you have to believe in your team-mate.”

While both Clayton and Price have Welsh aspects to their standard darts jersey, ‘The Ferret’ says there is something special about representing the country at the World Cup.

“There’s no better feeling than representing Wales,” added Clayton.

“Being a Welshman, I’m so proud when I put that jersey on.

“No matter what sport you play, if you can represent your country there is no better feeling.”

GERWYN PRICE claims he has plenty left in the tank – but won’t be content until he’s world champion again.

The 40-year-old won the PDC’s biggest prize back in 2021.

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Price proved himself king of the oche as he downed rival Gary Anderson 7-3 four years ago.

But he hasn’t made it past the quarter-finals at Ally Pally since.

Gezzy was KO’d in the final four of the Nordic Darts Masters by Rob Cross on Saturday.

It followed a successful Premier League campaign for the Welshman, reaching the finals at London’s O2.

Price claims he is more than happy to keep competing for the next decade at least.

And he’s made sure to put to bed any lingering questions of retirement.

Price told talkSPORT: “I’m sticking around for the next 10 years.

“I mean, one World Championship, it’s not good enough.”

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Price turned pro in 2012 after picking darts over rugby.

He’s been the winner of seven major PDC titles – but admits as time goes on, he may be forced to pick and choose events.

The Iceman continued: “I would never give up totally.

“But the Pro Tours and Europeans, depending on how many it’s going to be at that time, because it’s getting more and more every year, but I’ll stop doing those.

“I would never give my Tour Card up. I’d still do events and if they invite me to the Premier League and World Series, I’ll still do them.

“But none of the lower events and just stop the travelling.”

Darts’ hectic pro schedule has become a major talking point among the sport’s elite.

Nathan Aspinall recently branded the calendar “absolutely obscene”.

The Asp fumed: “For us to take a weekend off, I have to pull out events.

“So I’m losing ranking money because I just need a few days off.

“And I’ve done that over the last couple of weeks because I was in a tight position in the Premier League, I really wanted to make the playoffs.”

LUKE HUMPHRIES earned a whopping £9,306 PER MATCH during the Premier League season.

The World No.1 beat big rival Luke Littler 11-8 to win the final at the O2 last Thursday.

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That meant ‘Cool Hand’ became the richest-ever Premier League champion.

He won £275,000 for winning the title to add to three nightly wins of £30k in total and picking up gold darts worth £30k for a nine-darter.

Bet UK revealed that this meant the Leeds fan earned a mind-blowing £19,706 per week. That worked out at £1,006 per leg, £9,306 per match and £4,926 per hour.

Teen sensation Littler didn’t do so bad either as runner-up.

He earned an astonishing £12,647 per week on average in the BetMGM Premier League season.

With each night taking around four hours to complete, Littler earned a jaw-dropping £3.1k per hour from the competition.

He played the most matches in the Premier League, racking up 37 matches in 16 weeks, during the regular season, earning £90,000 in the process.

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He then played two matches on Finals Night, where he finished second after his 11-8 defeat in the final to Humphries, claiming a further £125,000 as a consolation prize and taking his prize money total to £215,000.

Research by BetUK reveals Littler earned £5,513 per match and £556 per leg this season.

Gerwyn Price also had a really successful season, earning a total of £175,000 in prize money.

That breaks down to £10,294 per week, £665 per leg and £6,250 per match.

Price’s average earnings also work out to be higher than Littler’s, despite earning less prize money, as the Welshman played 11 fewer games and more than 100 fewer legs than the superstar.

Victory was also payback for Humphries after he lost last year’s final to Littler as their rivalry continues to grow.

Since first playing each other in the 2024 World Championship final, the pair have faced off a further 22 times with Littler claiming 13 wins to Humphries’ 10.

They are the two top-ranked players in the world and over the past 18 months, that has been abundantly clear.

When they are on top form, it feels as if the other is the only player who can live with them.

Add in the consistency with which they are able to reach that level and it is little wonder the Littler-Humphries rivalry is being talked about as one that could dominate darts for years to come.

“These two could have darts sewn up,” Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle said.

“They are going to be the mainstay of the darting world. Others are going to have to play really well to get the better of these two.

“If they have that hunger for four, five, six or even 10 years then someone is going to have to step up.”

Asked if he felt that he and Littler would be fighting it out at the top for the next 10 or 15 years, Humphries was less convinced.

“The problem is, there’s always another person who comes around the corner,” he said.

“In five years’ time there could be about 10 players who are as good as me and Luke and it could be a battle between us all.

“I’d love to say over the next 10 years we’ll battle it out in many finals – and we probably will – but they’ll probably be a lot of other names involved with us.”

For the time being, though, Humphries and Littler have put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack.

But even after 23 matches against each other in such a short space of time, there is no sign of familiarity breeding contempt just yet.

“I love him. I think he’s a good kid,” Humphries said of his teenage competitor.

“He’s a close friend of mine in darts. He’ll probably win much more than I’ll ever win in my career because he’s young and he’s a great talent.

“I’m just happy when I nab one here and there. I said to him on the stage, I’m really happy to win this but I’m sure he’ll get me back plenty of times in the future.

“It’s just another final in the Luke and Luke saga.”

The next stage in the saga will see the rivals become team-mates as they join forces for England at June’s World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.

“I cannot wait,” Littler told Sky Sports. “He won it last year so hopefully he can lead me to victory.”

They should form a formidable duo but it is only a matter of time before they will be battling it out again on the oche in a major tournament.

And next time it is Littler, rather than Humphries, who might have a bit of revenge on his mind.