Luke Humphries and Michael Smith were the toast of England after they bagged the World Cup of Darts title, leaving one of their rivals in floods of tears.
Humphries and Smith secured England’s first triumph since 2016, toppling the Austrian team of Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez 10-6 in the final in Frankfurt. Despite sportingly congratulating the victorious pair on stage, the aftermath was heart-wrenching for Rodriguez, 30, who couldn’t hold back his emotions, openly shedding tears from the agony of defeat.
Rodriguez poured his heart out on Sky Sports’ Love The Darts podcast, confessing: “I was really disappointed after the final.
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“I was crying [for] a long time. In the hotel, my daughter cried, ‘Daddy, the guys with the white shirts took the trophy’. It made me so emotional because I wanted it so badly.
“It was the third World Cup final I played in and I’ve lost all three of them. In future, nobody is talking about second places, they are always talking about the champions.”
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(Image: (Image: Jonas Hunold/PDC Europe))
His hunger for victory was palpable as he declared: “I want to be there. I’ve had a chance three times in the World Cup now. I wanted it so badly. I wanted it for me, I wanted it for the country, for my family. It was so hard to take in that moment.”
However, Rodriguez, who is battling to keep his PDC Tour card, admitted he was starting to get over the loss. He said: “After two days now, I can say the England players, number one and number three in the world, they smashed it in the final. Luke Humphries had such a good game, big finishes, good scoring.
“I was a little bit tired in the final but you can see those are world champions and have a winning mentality. I have to learn that. But at that moment on Sunday night, it was devastating and painful.”