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‘That’s a bit harsh’ – Former world champion slams darts legend Dennis Priestley over Luke Littler and Humphries jibe
KEITH DELLER has told former oche rival Dennis Priestley he was wrong to accuse Luke Littler and Luke Humphries of “letting their country down”.
Two-time world champion Priestley, 74, made the explosive comments last month after the best two players in the world lost in round two to hosts Germany at the PDC World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.
The words angered both Littler, 18, and Humphries, 30, who were playing together in an England shirt for the first time.
Their early exit has divided opinion across the sport, especially as they were such strong favourites for the title, but Deller reckons it is harsh to accuse them of being flops.
Deller – the 1983 BDO world darts champion – told SunSport: “I don’t think they let the country down at all.
“If you ask them, they’ll feel they let themselves down. Being number one and number two in the world, obviously the big pressure was that they would win.
“But what people have got to understand is that pairs action is nothing like playing singles. You’ve got to wait longer for a throw.
“If you look at Luke Humphries and Luke Littler they have got to get on with it.
“It was unlucky to draw Germany. No disrespect to other countries, if they had someone like China, they’d have probably come through that very easily.
“They never got into a rhythm against Germany and when they were behind, they were in trouble.
“The problem is you’re waiting to throw all the time, so you have more time to think about the throw and that’s what happened.
“Look, they could win it the next 6-7 years if they play together.
“England didn’t play well on the day. But all this ‘letting your country down’ – that’s a little bit harsh.”
Yorkshireman Priestley – who thrashed Eric Bristow (6-0) and Phil Taylor (6-1) in two world finals – also said the Lukes of Hazard had not done enough in their careers thus far to earn their MBEs.
Those special honours, given to them as part of the King’s Birthday celebrations, were announced on the eve of the team tournament.
Littler screenshotted an article that contained Priestley’s quotes and captioned it up as saying: “Don’t deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did…That’s what I would say anyway.”
Deller is one of seven players, past or previous, to have received a gong off the Royal Family,
The Suffolk thrower – speaking as an ambassador for Grosvenor Casinos – said: “I got mine last year. Went to Windsor Castle. It was an unbelievable day.
“Dennis said: ‘Is it too early for the Lukes?’ Well, you see other sportspeople, youngsters even, who get an MBE early doors.
“You could say that about a footballer, why did he get it at the end of his career? You get people who might get a bronze medal in the Olympics or the world championships and get an MBE.
“You can criticise it any time. Okay, mine was 42 years in the making. I did wait long enough.
“I think personally Dennis has got a right to have his opinion but so has Luke Littler and Luke Humphries got the right to come back.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
- 2025 – Luke Littler
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
“Luke Littler saying he has done more than Dennis – well I wouldn’t go that far.
“Dennis, if we’re being honest, if it wasn’t for Phil Taylor might have won about six or seven world titles. He won two.
“To me, Dennis is one of the best players of all time. We live in a social media world now, where it’s easy to put something back on there.
“But they have a right to come back and defend themselves.”
“All Things Darts” – A night with darts royalty Keith Deller and Russ Bray – will take place at the Grosvenor Casino Luton on Sunday between 4-8pm.
“All Things Darts” (A night with darts royalty Keith Deller and Russ Bray) will take place at the Grosvenor Casino Luton on Sunday between 4-8pm. To buy tickets visit www.designmynight.com
