PREVIEW: Wales at the World Cup of Darts: Can Jonny Clayton defend the title without Gerwyn Price?

Starting today, the 2024 PDC World Cup of Darts gets underway in Frankfurt. One of the participating countries is defending champion Wales.

The World Cup of Darts is the unofficial world championship for nation teams within the PDC. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2010, when 24 countries were present. This remained so until 2014, when the field of participants was expanded to 32 countries. Since last year there are 40 and only pairs matches are played.

Since the start of the tournament, Wales has managed to reach the final no less than five times, including three times in the last four editions. We can therefore say that Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are a good and successful pair. However, the first time Wales reached the final was at the first edition in 2010, when the pair consisted of Mark Webster and Barrie Bates. Wales was not among the favourites beforehand but still surprisingly managed to reach the final.

In the second round, they won 6-4 over New Zealand. That victory put the Welshmen in a group with Spain, Scotland and the United States. Wales managed to win the matches against Spain and Scotland both 3-1, but the match against the United States was lost 3-1. Still, Wales finished first in the group, allowing them to take on Australia's Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson in the semifinals. It became a very exciting semifinal too as Webster managed to win his first match against Paul Nicholson 6-5, but Australia won all 3 matches after that. Wales narrowly won the pairs match 6-5, making it 3-3 between the two countries. Eventually a sudden death had to come, which was won by Mark Webster and Barrie Bates. In the final they faced the Netherlands with Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompé. Wales managed to take a 1-2 lead through two wins by Mark Webster, but in the end, they lost the final 4-2.

In the following years, Wales fared somewhat less well, until the 2017 edition. In that year, Mark Webster and Gerwyn Price managed to reach the final together. In their way to the final, the Welshmen defeated Finland, Ireland, Russia and Belgium, among others, and did not even lose a single match. In the final, they again faced the Netherlands, this time with Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld. Gerwyn Price went down 4-0 in his first match against Van Gerwen.

Mark Webster was able to win his match against 'Barney' 4-1, levelling the score again. In the match that followed, Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld were too strong again. The Dutchmen won 4-1 to take a 2-1 lead. Price needed to win his second match to keep Wales alive, but unfortunately for him, he did not succeed. He lost 4-2 to Van Barneveld, marking the nation's second defeat in the final against the Netherlands.

After Wales disappointed themselves in 2019 by losing to Singapore in the 1st round, they wanted to aim high again in 2020. Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price managed to reach the final fairly easily with impressive play. On their way to the final, they defeated Russia (5-0), Scotland (2-1), Australia (2-1) and Germany (2-0). In the final, they faced England. Both Price and Clayton seemed to have saved their best game for the final. Price won his singles match 4-1 over Michael Smith, setting the tone. Then it was the turn of Jonny Clayton who averaged 105 and beat Rob Cross 4-2, putting Wales very close to victory. Also in the pairing match, Price and Clayton managed to throw an average of over 103. They won the pairs match 4-3 to crown themselves winners of the World Cup of Darts for the first time.

The pair of Price & Clayton proved to be very successful, as in the past 3 years they managed to reach at least the semifinals. And in 2022 and 2023, they managed to reach the final both years. In 2022 they faced Australian pair Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock, and on paper seemed to be the favourites for a second World Cup victory. Yet in the end, it was Australia that surprisingly walked away with the title. The following year, Clayton and Price faced Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in the final. Since last year, only pairs matches were played, a new format that worked out well for Wales. 'The Iceman' and 'The Ferret' won against Denmark (8-2), Sweden (8-5) and Belgium (8-7) respectively until they waltzed over the Scots in the final (10-2). And with that, the second World Cup for Wales was a fact.

A big loss for Wales is the absence of Gerwyn Price this year. 'The Iceman' has to withdraw from the tournament due to health problems. Recent years have shown that Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton make an excellent pair. Both men have known each other for years and complement each other well. Price will be replaced by 39-year-old Jim Williams, who is the next highest-ranked Welshman in the world rankings. It remains to be seen whether Wales can once again aim high with this new pair this year.

As mentioned earlier, Wales is the defending champion at the World Cup of Darts. Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton have shown in recent years that this tournament suits them well and always seem to be in good form here. However, Gerwyn Price's absence this year could cause problems. Beforehand, Wales, alongside England and the Netherlands, was one of the big favourites for the title. But with the sudden addition of Jim Williams, who replaces the ailing Price, that will no longer be the case. Jim Williams is ranked 44 on the PDC Order of Merit.

With all due respect to Jim Williams, he very likely cannot reach the same level that Gerwyn Price can. Because of this, the pressure will be mainly on Jonny Clayton's shoulders, and the question is whether 'The Ferret' can handle that pressure on his own. Normally, with Price, he had another world-class player next to him. Clayton is also not really in top form at the moment, making it very difficult for Wales to get far at this tournament. A Wales with Gerwyn Price could certainly have competed for the title. In his absence, however, the chances of victory have now shrunk considerably.