“I feel really sorry for Gezzy, but it’s a big opportunity for me'' - Jim Williams ready to seize his surprise World Cup of Darts callup

Jim Williams faces the heavy task of filling the shoes of Gerwyn Price in the Welsh team at the World Cup of Darts this weekend. 'The Quiff' will now unexpectedly team with Jonny Clayton at the Nations Tournament in Frankfurt.

Wales are the defending champion at the World Cup of Darts. Price and Clayton first won the tournament in 2020 and added a second title in 2023. The final saw a convincing 10-2 win over Scotland twelve months ago. This weekend, Wales was originally supposed to be one of the top favourites for the title again, but on Wednesday news suddenly arrived that Price would not travel to Frankfurt. According to the PDC, 'The Iceman' is struggling with health problems, without giving a further explanation on the matter. As the third Welshman in the world rankings, Williams was benefactor.

“I feel really sorry for Gezzy, but it’s a big opportunity for me,'' Williams said on the PDC website. “I’m not going to try and fill Gezzy’s shoes, because there’s probably not a player in the world that can replace a player like him. I’m just going to do my own thing and play my game. I’ve not played too much competitive darts this year, so to get this chance on the big stage is great."

It will be his debut at the World Cup of Darts for Williams, but "The Quiff" is certainly not making his debut as a Welsh international. In his BDO/WDF days, Williams played regularly for the Welsh team. In 2015, Williams even won the singles tournament at the WDF World Cup and in 2019, he took the gold medal with the Welsh men's team.

“Representing your country is always an amazing honour," the former Lakeside finalist concludes. "And it will be great to partner Jonny. If we were to win the title, nothing would probably come close to that [in my career so far]."