Luke Littler has fired back at two-time world champion Dennis Priestley after it was claimed that neither he nor Luke Humphries had 'done enough' to earn MBEs.
Littler and Humphries teamed together for England at the 2025 World Cup of Darts last week, but lost by eight legs to four in the round of 16 against Germany's Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko.
England had received a bye through the group stage due to winning the competition last year, meaning Littler and Humphries lost their only match in Frankfurt.
It was a major blow for the duo, who have dominated darts over the past two years. Humphries is ranked as the PDC world number one, with Littler at number two.
The World Cup was eventually won by Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock, who defeated the Wales pairing of Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton 10-9 in the final.
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It was the first time that the two Brits had played together in doubles competition, though Humphries won the tournament on debut last year when he teamed with Michael Smith.
The day prior to their round of 16 match, both Littler and Humphries were awarded MBEs as part of The King's Birthday Honours list.
They were not the only darts players to be recognised, with women's darts veteran Deta Hedman awarded an OBE.
But in an interview with OLBG, Priestley - who won the world championship in 1991 and 1994 - claimed that Littler and Humphries had 'let their country down' and had not achieved enough in the game yet to deserve such a prestigious honour.
He said: "Luke Littler and Luke Humphries let their country down at the World Cup of Darts, from what we've heard they weren't sitting together or practicing together.
"When I was playing in pairs with Phil Taylor we practiced together and sat together, we played all over the world and I only remember us getting beaten once.
"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."
In a now-deleted Instagram story, Littler directly responded to Priestley's comments with a dig of his own at the 66-year-old.
He wrote: "Don't deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did... that's what I would say anyway."
In 1993, Priestley was one of the 16 founder members of the World Darts Council (WDC), which would later become the PDC.
Having already captured the BDO world crown in 1991 by defeating Eric Bristow 6-0 in the final, he would subsequently win the inaugural PDC title in 1994 with a 6-1 win over Phil Taylor.
'The Menace' would never again win the title after those successes, though did finish as runner-up to Taylor on four occasions.
Topics:Ā Luke Littler, Darts
Ryan Smart