Sky Sports Darts analyst Wayne Mardle believes England and the Netherlands could be about to create the next great World Cup of Darts rivalry after Sunday night's final in Frankfurt. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries beat Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen 10-5 as England claimed the nation's sixth World Cup title at the Eissporthalle. Humphries became a two-time World Cup winner, Littler lifted the trophy for the first time, and the Dutch pair were left with the runner-up spot after reaching the final on their first World Cup appearance together.
For Mardle, the four-player dynamic already has the makings of something bigger if the same pairings continue to collide in the coming years. “These two, as in Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, and Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen, they could set up the ultimate rivalry in the World Cup,” Mardle said on Sky Sports. England’s final performance was the level expected of Littler and Humphries when the pair were confirmed as the top seeds. After surviving a major scare against Wales earlier in the tournament, they beat Scotland 8-3 in the semi-finals before averaging 104.77 against the Netherlands in the final.
The Dutch had also reached the final in style. Van Gerwen and Van Veen averaged 101.55 in an 8-2 semi-final win over defending champions Northern Ireland, with Van Gerwen taking out 125 and Van Veen closing the match with an 83 finish for a 12-dart final leg. “We live in a world of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries where they hit the ground running and keep winning, so we think everyone else should do it. It doesn’t really work that way,” Mardle added.
Mardle reached back to one of the defining World Cup pairings of the previous generation when placing Littler, Humphries, Van Gerwen and Van Veen into a wider frame. “A bit like Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor vs Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld. It could be so similar to that,” he said. Taylor and Lewis won multiple World Cup titles together for England, while Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld gave the Netherlands its own star pairing. Littler and Humphries are already winning together as the world’s top two players. Van Gerwen now has Van Veen alongside him as a younger Dutch partner with clear room to grow.
Van Veen’s next steps could decide how dangerous the Netherlands become if this pairing returns in future editions. “But if Van Veen has Van Gerwen in his corner, and they do play the World Cup next year and the year after, we could have that rivalry,” Mardle said. “I just believe Van Veen’s going to get better and better, I really do. There’s a lot to love about his game. There was a spell in the semi-finals where he was finding it so regularly. He’s another one for me that, once he starts winning title after title, it will be: ‘Why did he take so long to get there?’” England left Frankfurt with the trophy, Littler’s first World Cup title and Humphries’ second. The Netherlands left with Van Gerwen and Van Veen already looking like the pairing most likely to turn Sunday night’s final into the start of a longer rivalry.
