ASPINALL CALLS FOR RYDER CUP-STYLE DARTS TOURNAMENT
18/07/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
NATHAN ASPINALL reckons a “Ryder Cup-style UK against the world” tournament could transform the sport.
Two-times major winner Aspinall believes the competition would finally get Luke Littler and Luke Humphries firing on all cylinders together.
World Champ Littler and Humphries were dumped out of the World Cup last month after losing their opening match to Germany despite going in as red-hot favourites.
Stockport thrower Aspinall admits the international team event could sell out major European arenas and offer up another event at which England’s high-flying duo can work on their partnership.
He said: “One change I would make [to the circuit] is having a Ryder Cup-style tournament.
“You could do the UK against the rest of the world. You’ve got all the Dutch players, all the Germans, the likes of Damon Heta and people like that.
“You could do triples, pairs, and singles matches, it would be mega for players and fans.
“If you did it somewhere like in the centre of Germany, and change every year, you could probably sell a 30,000-seater stadium comfortably, and it would create some atmosphere.”
World No. 7 Aspinall thinks the Lethal Lukes inability to strike up a sporting connection was the reason for their early exit.
He continued: “I think you’ve seen from the World Cup that you have to gel as a team.
“Luke and Luke, even though they’re mates, they didn’t gel at the World Cup, which is why they didn’t get far.
“You saw with Josh and Daryl, and Gezzy and Jonny, they clearly did gel, and that’s why they made the finals.
“The only issue is that there is that much going on in darts at the moment, I think the PDC is going to leave it as it is for now.
“You never know, in the future it might be something that they look into.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
