Luke Littler's three-word response to darts announcement shows Luke Humphries where he stands

Luke Littler expressed his joy about the confirmation of his "dream team" World Cup partnership with prior to their thrilling Darts showdown. Withand Humphries having already secured their spots for the finals night at the O2 Arena in a fortnight's time, the pair's clash on Thursday left darts fans in disbelief.

With 'Cool Hand' needing a win to close the gap on 'The Nuke' at the top of the leaderboard, the 2024 world champion eventually came up short - but not before playing his part in what is already being regarded as one of the all-time greatest games in Premier League history.

The 18-year-old claimed a 6-3 win over his fiercest rival to secure top spot in the standings, despite Humphries averaging a whopping 110 as well as reeling off nine 180s in Aberdeen. Before the action got underway, the World Cup of Darts line-up was unveiled by the PDC, with both Humphries and Littler set to fly the flag for England in Germany next month.

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Littler took to to share several snaps of him and Humphries sharing a moment on stage. "Dream team confirmed," his caption began, before adding: "Bring on the cup in June @lukehumphries180."

There were in the World Cup of Darts when he declared he wouldn't compete in Germany again until October's European Championship, reports .

He expressed his displeasure towards the nation's darts fans after being booed at the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich. He also pulled out from the European Darts Grand Prix in the country last month.

Despite worries about his participation at the World Cup in Frankfurt, Littler had previously stated he never thought about skipping the tournament. "No, no I was always [going to play]," he said.

"Luke [Humphries] will want to go back-to-back and obviously I want to win it for the first time. Even though it's not a major, it's still playing for your country."

England are the reigning World Cup of Darts champions thanks to the triumphant efforts of Humphries and Michael Smith last year. They bested Austria's Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez in the final.

This marked England's first victory in the tournament since and Adrian Lewis' successful partnership in 2016. In the intervening years, the Netherlands, and Wales each clinched the title twice, with emerging victorious in 2022.

Aside from the Littler and Humphries classic, and a Gerwyn Price nine-darter, it was Nathan Aspinall who captured his second nightly win on Thursday after besting Michael van Gerwen, Stephen Bunting, and Chris Dobey.

The Englishman's victory saw him climb ahead of Van Gerwen and into fourth spot, and he's now four points ahead of the seven-time Premier League champion. The Dutchman will need to win in Sheffield next week to reach finals night.