Luke Humphries rubbishes Gerwyn Price claim about him and Luke Littler as star hits back

Luke Humphries clapped back at Gerwyn Price's claim that he and Luke Littler weren't a team at the World Cup, insisting the Welshman was incorrect. The English duo were not only the overwhelming favourites heading into the tournament earlier this month, but also the defending champions after Humphries had won it last year alongside Michael Smith.

However, they were left stunned after suffering a shock defeat in the second round at the hands of Germany, with Ricardo Pietreczko and Martin Schindler earning a 8-4 victory over their rivals. In what was their first match of the tournament, Humphries and Littler were swiftly sent back home from Frankfurt. While England were left to rue their missed opportunity, second seed Wales raced to a comprehensive 8-2 win over the Philippines on the same day thanks to Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton. The Welsh pair were in inspired form throughout the tournament and they eventually reached the final after wins over Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

The victories set up a meeting against Northern Ireland, who, represented by Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock, claimed their first ever World Cup in a thrilling 10-9 win. Speaking after their defeat, Price sounded off on the disappointment that Humphries and Littler displayed and claimed their failure was due to the lack of team unity between them.

"I think you need to have a connection," the former world champion said. "You need to have that camaraderie off the stage and connection because when we all turned on the first day - and I'm not just saying this because they lost - but the only two players that didn't turn up together, didn't sit together, didn't play as a team. I'm not saying who they are but they didn't win their first game.

"You need to turn up together, you need to be as a team. You turn up as a team, you practice together, you sit together. It's a team ethic and it didn't show with England. It showed on the board. They're great players individually but you need to be as a team.

"I wanted them to do well, but they didn't. I'm not just saying that! I wanted them to do well, but they were rubbish." Appearing at the US Masters on Thursday, Humphries was asked about the World Cup, and the 30-year-old decided to indirectly address Price's comments as he insisted he and Littler did in fact enjoy being a team.

"There was a lot of talk about me and Luke not being a team, but coming from the horse's mouth, I can assure you we were a team," the 2025 Premier League winner said to . "We were. We didn't arrive at the same time, no, because I said not to. I told Luke, 'Do your own thing.'

"There's no point in us trying to change the ways we play. He gets there about two hours before, I get there four hours before. I need more practice, he don't. So I said to Luke, 'Just do what you do before, don't change yourself for me.' All that stuff about us not being a team was not true. We were well up for playing together, we got along really well. It just didn't happen and that's it."