Northern Ireland beat Wales to win first World Cup crown

Northern Ireland won the World Cup of Darts for the first time by upsetting two-time champions Wales in a thrilling last-leg shootout in Frankfurt.

Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney – the tournament’s fourth seeds – broke down in tears after holding their nerve to make history with a 10-9 defeat of Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price.

Having trailed 7-5, the triumphant pair hit back to lead 9-7, only to miss four match darts for the title at 9-8, allowing Clayton and Price – champions in 2020 and 2023 – to force a decider.

Rock and Gurney, who threw first in the final leg, regained their composure to clinch the title before sinking to their knees during an emotional embrace.

£80,000

Playing together for the first time, the champions picked up a team first prize of £80,000.

Rock told Sky Sports: “Me and Daryl said we’ll win this World Cup; I wasn’t expecting it to be the first time. But we’ve done it.

“I have the privilege to have made history, we’ve won the World Cup for Northern Ireland and there is always going to be a star on the back of this shirt.

“As a team, we were fantastic. We fought hard all the way through.

“One of the two of us will win a major this year, I think, because when you win on the big stage in front of Sky Sports, it’s obviously a different story.”

Captivating

Northern Ireland led 3-1 but then lost six of the next eight legs before regaining control of a captivating contest courtesy of a devastating combination of Rock’s scoring power and Gurney’s finishing.

Following the four missed darts for glory in the penultimate leg, Wales were given a glimmer of hope, only for Gurney to finally nail double eight to secure the trophy.

“Josh was power scoring and all I had to do was clean up the finishing,” said Gurney.

“I have never been so proud of this man and myself.”

Second seeds Wales began Sunday as favourites for silverware after English top seeds Luke Littler and Luke Humphries suffered a shock second-round defeat by Germany on Saturday.

Clayton and Price overcame Hong Kong 8-4 in the quarter-finals before defeating Dutch duo Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen in the last four, while Rock and Gurney reached the final by beating Ireland 8-5 and then thrashing German pair Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko 8-1.