LITTLER REVEALS WHAT WENT WRONG IN SHOCK WORLD CUP EXIT

LUKE LITTLER has admitted England “didn’t really bond” during their shock World Cup of Darts exit last year.

World No.1 Littler and Luke Humphries will head to Frankfurt’s Eissporthalle as the top seeds for this year’s 40-nation tournament after suffering a surprise second-round defeat 12 months ago.

The lethal lukes crashed out 8-4 to German duo Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko in front of a partisan home crowd.

Littler admitted the chemistry between himself and Humphries never truly clicked on stage.

He said: “I think it was in Berlin I tried my England top on and someone from the PDC said, ‘you’re definitely going?’ and I said, ‘yeah we’re definitely going’ so that was settled.

“Me and Luke are up for it and hopefully we can get an easier first round draw this year.

“Ricardo and Martin, they definitely played a good game with each other.

“Me and Luke had a few good moments in the game but we just didn’t really bond on that stage.

“But hopefully this year it is a lot different.”

The Nuke thrashed Cor Dekker 6-1 in the opening round of the Nordic Darts Masters to book a quarter-final clash with James Wade.

Littler is aiming to make it back-to-back World Series titles following his triumph in Bahrain and admitted he has enjoyed some well-earned downtime since winning the Premier League last week.

He added: “I mean, a win’s a win. If you win 6-0, it’s always nice, but I wasn’t expecting anything.

“I hadn’t thrown a dart since last Thursday. It was just about getting past the first round and coming back tomorrow.

“Everyone knows I want to tick off every major title. To tick off everything, including the World Series events, is what I’m going to try and do.

“I’ll definitely put some more practice in tomorrow and see if I can pick up the trophy.

“I’ve definitely had one of the best weeks off, just relaxing, chilling out and not thinking about darts.

“But I knew this morning that I was back to work. A few hours before the game I had a little practice session.

“It’s just about getting past the first round in these competitions and coming back tomorrow.

“It’s just been non-stop since my first World Championship. Travelling every weekend, playing competitions.

“We’ve got this weekend, then the World Cup, then New York. That’s three back-to-back weekends of pure darts.

“Obviously I try to enjoy myself, but it has been tough. Like I said, this past week was really good because I didn’t have to think about darts. Downtime for us players is really crucial.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.