Luke Littler snaps at darts star in latest outburst after England taunt backfires

Luke Littler has taken a brutal swipe at veteran darts player Neil Duff on social media in the latest instalment of his ruthless defence of England's World Cup of Darts nightmare. The reigning world champion and Luke Humphries formed a dream team at this year's tournament in Germany but suffered an 8-4 defeat to the hosts in the last 16.

Losing to Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko in their opening match opened the door for an onslaught of criticism from former players and viewers alike. However, neither Littler and Humphries have shied away from biting back at some of the reaction, and the former was at it again on Saturday.

After England's defeat to Germany, former WDF World Champion Neil Duff took to Facebook to mock the fallen giants. The Northern Irishman posted: "How's England doing?"

Littler clearly took note of Duff's joke and leapt at the opportunity to get his own back after 'Duffman' crashed out of the Modus Super Series on Saturday.

Wales' Martin Thomas thumped the 52-year-old 4-1, to which Littler reacted on his Instagram story with screenshots of the result, Duff's Facebook post, and a caption of his own.

The Nuke jabbed back at his online foe with a fitting comment, penning: "How's Neil Duff doing?"

Littler's actions come days after he went at darts icon Dennis Priestley for questioning why the teenager and Humphries were named MBEs.

The duo received the honour as part of the King's Birthday Honours, recognising their contribution to the sport of darts.

However, Priestley, a two-time world champion, reacted: "To be brutally honest, I don't think either Luke Littler or Luke Humphries have done enough to earn their MBEs just yet.

"I think in time they could've done enough to warrant it, but it feels very early; they have both won one World Championship each and are still young in their careers.

"Littler has been recognised for raising the popularity of darts, which is great, but he can still do so much more.

"If he is getting an MBE this soon, then you'd have to think he is on the right path to a knighthood; nothing would surprise me now."

Priestley's cut-throat claim that Littler and Humphries "let their country down" at the World Cup seemingly touched a nerve with the former more than anything.

The 18-year-old clapped back in an eventually deleted Instagram story, writing: "Doesn't deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did... that's what I would say anyway.

Humphries weighed in on X (formerly Twitter), posting: "Disappointing to hear a top former pro who I admired say such a damaging thing to me and Luke.

"I didn't let my country down last year, though, did I? One bad game for us, and we will be back next year to go again. Let's move on now."