World Cup of Darts: England’s Luke Littler and Luke Humphries advance to Wales quarter-finals

England’s Luke Humphries and Luke Littler defeated Spanish pair Cristo Reyes and Jose Justicia 8-5 to reach the quarter-finals against Wales at the World Cup of Darts.

The number one seeds, who were entering the second round of the tournament, took a 3-0 lead in their opening match in Frankfurt, before their unseeded opponents bounced back in the fifth leg.

Two sets followed until Littler hit a double six for a 6-4 lead and the world’s top two ranked players ended the match.

“It was probably about six out of 10. We knew it was going to be like that, we’re not going to average what we do in the Premier League,” Humphries told Sky Sports.

“I’m proud of the way we fought. It wasn’t the worst performance in the world. It wasn’t our best, but we can relax after getting our first game and we know how we can play tomorrow.

“We had a good test there, so hopefully that will pay dividends tomorrow.”

This couple, who are one Germany’s shock exit at this stage last yearSeventh-seeded Wales face Wales in the quarter-finals on Sunday after Johnny Clayton and Nick Kenny beat the United States 8-5.

Meanwhile, defending champions and third seeds Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney got Northern Ireland to an 8-7 win over Belgium, setting up a tie with Latvia who beat France by the same scoreline.

Fourth-seeded Scotland, represented by Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies, opened their campaign with an 8-0 thrashing of Norway and will face Ireland in the quarter-finals after William O’Connor and Mickey Mansell beat Poland 8-5.

The Netherlands will face off against Germany in the last quarter-final, beating the Czech Republic and Sweden 8-6 respectively.

The tournament concludes on Sunday with 15-leg quarter-finals and semi-finals before the 19-leg final.