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Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton stormed into the World Cup of Darts final this weekend – but they were unable to clinch a third title for Wales.
The pair sealed wins over the Philippines, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands en route to Sunday night’s showpiece in Frankfurt, but it was Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney who lifted the trophy.
Price, from Markham, and Clayton, from Carmarthenshire, beat Hong Kong 8-4 at the quarter-final stage early on Sunday afternoon, to set up a semi-final clash with Danny Noppert and Gian Van Veen of the Netherlands.
The Dutch duo were in fine form heading into that clash, and took control of the tie early on. But a strong showing from Price inspired a Welsh comeback to win 8-5.
The final started in a similar fashion, with Rock and Gurney taking command early on. But Price and Clayton fought back to go 7-5 up in a tense but thrilling affair.
The drama continued as the duos took the scoreline to 9-9 to set up a deciding leg, but it was the Northern Irish pair who prevailed to win their country’s first ever World Cup of Darts title.
It denied Wales a third competition win, after successes in 2020 and again in 2023.
“We gave it our all but congratulations to those two [Rock and Gurney],” said Clayton after the final.
“To be fair to Josh and Daryl they flew out the blocks in the last leg.”
He added: “Gezzy is a class act, I’m a proud man to have a teammate like him.”
Gracious in defeat, Price said: “We started off really slowly, trying to get in the game was really difficult.
“Testament to the Northern Irish team, Josh’s scoring was unbelievable and we couldn’t keep up with them.
“At 9-9 we gave ourselves a chance but they were a bit better than us and they deserve it.”
Meanwhile, Gurney praised Price and Clayton and said: “I would like to congratulate Wales, it shows the class of the Welsh team to stay on stage and congratulate us.
“Jonny and Gezzy are legends of the game, I think they’ll go on and win big titles this year.
“Josh’s power scoring was amazing and I was there to clean up the finishing; I was never going to miss the double eight to win the title.
“I’m so proud of Josh and myself, I put higher regard on this title than any individual events I’ve won.”
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