WHITLOCK NOT SURPRISED AT ENGLAND EXIT IN WORLD CUP

SIMON WHITLOCK reckons England’s World Cup meltdown came as no shock — after Germany pulled off a huge upset in Frankfurt. 

Pre-tournament favourites Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were dumped out 8-4 in the last 16 by Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko.  

Former European champ Whitlock believes the lethal Lukes inexperience as a pairs team showed at the Eissporthalle Arena. 

He said: “Not at all. I was not surprised.  

“You sort of expect them to play well.  

“But pairs is a different game altogether. 

“Germany had momentum. They already had two wins under their belt.  

“England had never played together, and you could tell that played a big factor, plus the crowd.” 

Australian teammate Damon Heta admitted he did not expect the defending champions to depart from the competition so early.  

He revealed: “I was a bit surprised. They [England] probably relied on each other thinking: Ah, he’ll do the business, ah, he’ll do the business.  

“But the conditions weren’t great. The crowd was awful. In Germany, it was probably brutal out there for them.  

“They would take it as another learning curve and probably get stronger, unfortunately, for the rest of us.” 

World No. 8 Heta and Whitlock exited the tournament to the host nation in the quarter-final on Sunday.  

Australia suffered an 8-7 loss as they missed a match dart and surrendered a 7-5 lead to the Germans. 

‘The Heat’ and Whitlock were unable to follow on from their success in 2022 where they claimed a maiden World Cup crown.