Luke Littler and Luke Humphries together on stage. (Image: Getty.)
Several stars have been publicly called out for “moaning about” and as they take centre stage at Alexandra Palace.
The two Lukes are the favourites to win the competition and opened up their campaigns and Thibault Tricole, but there have been complaints about the media’s coverage of the pair.
host Emma Paton has , following accusations from and that the world champion had been overshadowed by Littler.
Nick Kenny, who defeated Raymond van Barneveld in the biggest win of his career on Saturday, claimed that those who complained about the coverage both Lukes get are harming those who sit below them in the rankings.
“A few of them are moaning about the Luke and the Luke but they deserve to have that credit off the media,” Kenny said in his press conference.
“But then they are doing exactly to the players who are coming up what they think is being done to them. That’s all I am going to say about that.”
Kenny also confirmed that Van Barneveld “pulled him aside” after the Dutch icon was accused of overlooking his Welsh opponent and already planning to face Humphries in the next round.
Nick Kenny had some choice words for those criticising darts’ media coverage. (Image: Darts Now.)
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He explained: “Yeah Barney pulled me aside earlier and said ‘Can I have a quick word?’ I said ‘I’ll get it up on my phone if you want, he was already playing Humphries’.
“He couldn’t remember, maybe he has done a lot of interviews and was tired and couldn’t remember.
The Cwmbran star has moved up into the Order of Merit provisional top 64 with an upset over Van Barneveld and shared his delight at saving his professional future.
“It’s a bit surreal,” Kenny said. “I’ve kept my Tour Card I believe, but it was an absolute privilege to play Raymond van Barneveld on the big stage. He didn’t play his best game, but who cares, really? My timing was spot on, I hit the doubles at the right time and got over the line.
“It gives me probably another two years on tour because I’m only defending around £13,500 next year. There’s a lot more riding on it personally, and I can move on and really sort myself out.”
He has been rewarded with a third-round clash with defending champion Humphries and Kenny knows that he will need to be at the peak of his powers to avoid “betting battered” on the main stage.
“I’m just looking forward to Christmas,” Kenny added. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, but Luke Humphries is the best. I relish that opportunity to play him and hopefully I can give a good account of myself. I expect him to be at a 100 average and if I don’t get near that I’ll get battered. But, I’ll be relaxed, so we’ll see.”