'The only two players that didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together' - Gerwyn Price slams Luke Littler & Luke Humphries' lack of World Cup of Darts team spirit

Confidence boost for the rest of the season

Despite the defeat, the Welsh duo are determined to take the positives from the run – especially with Blackpool's World Matchplay just around the corner. “Yeah, I think so,” said Clayton when asked if this final could be a springboard. “Obviously it's confidence, isn’t it? Every game of darts is all about confidence. We played some good darts, didn’t we? We played some terrible... good in between – no, we played some not-so-good darts. But hey, at the end of the day, we got to the final.”

“We didn’t play our A-game at all in the tournament,” Price agreed. “But it shows that as a team, and as good friends, and as a really good team, whether we’re playing our A-game or not, we can reach finals and give ourselves a chance.”

“But yeah, as you can see, the emotions of the boys – they really, really wanted it tonight and probably wanted it a little bit more. I wanted to win, don’t get me wrong, but by their emotions at the end of the game, yeah, they probably deserved it a little bit more.”

There was at least one silver lining for Gerwyn Price – a return to the Grand Slam of Darts. “Jonny was already in. I’ve got him in in the past, he’s got me in this time,” he laughed. “So yeah, that’s probably why I was under pressure and played a little bit rubbish in the semis. But no, I relaxed a little bit in the final – it just didn’t happen. I’m happy to be in the Grand Slam. We’re runners-up again, but yeah, we’ll come back. We’ll come back fighting.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Price was full of ambition: “I can win the Matchplay,” he smiled. “I’m in the Grand Slam, I can win that. I can win the Grand Prix.”

Clayton joined in the fun: “Well, you can win them – let me win the Worlds, I’ll be happy with that.”

Message to the doubters – and the power of team spirit

Reflecting on the first half of the year, Clayton couldn’t help but aim a playful dig at critics. “At one point, nobody wanted Gezzy in the Premier League – and he’s hit the last four,” he smiled.

Price added: “We prove it. Let the darts do the talking. The keyboard warriors can say what they want, but let the darts do the talking. We prove that we can play darts, and that’s all that counts.” didn’t win their first game.”

Both players also praised the increasing depth of quality in world darts:

“Philippines – first game, I know it was 8–2, but I thought they gave us a good game,” said Price. “And Hong Kong as well – what was it, 5–4? 4–3 at a certain stage. But yeah, if you’re not on your game, then anybody can beat you. Thankfully we came through and got to the final – but yeah, just a little bit short.”

“You’ve got to be a team” – strong words on unity and preparation

Finally, Price shared a pointed message about the importance of unity in the World Cup format. “I think you need a connection. I think you need to have that camaraderie off the stage and have that connection,” he said.

“The only – and I’m not just saying this because they lost – but the only two players that didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together, didn’t play as a team... I’m not saying who they are, but they didn’t win their first game.”

“You need to turn up together. You need to be a team. You turn up as a team, you practice together, you sit together – it’s a team ethic.”

Clayton, laughing: “I thought you were going to say who they were.”

Price, grinning: “No. But you need that team ethic and you need to be together as a team all the way through. They didn’t show it. I wanted them to do well – but they didn’t. I’m not just saying that because I want to make some fans or anything – but I did. I wanted them to do well. But they were rubbish.”