GERWYN Price insisted becoming a world champion with Wales means more than personal glory.

The 35-year-old from Markham joined forces with Jonny Clayton of Llanelli to win the World Cup of Darts, beating England 3-0 in the final.

Wales, appearing in the final for the third time, punished Michael Smith and Rob Cross in ruthless fashion whitewashing the English pair in Salzburg to claim a £70,000 top prize.

Price has claimed back-to-back Grand Slam of Darts wins over the past two years, won October's World Grand Prix and also took the World Series of Darts Finals titles at the Salzburgarena in September.

But the world number three, a former Cross Keys hooker who has had a well-documented rise to the top of the game after swapping rugby for darts, said: "It's the proudest moment of my darting career - I'm quite emotional.

South Wales Argus:

"I've had some success recently for myself but to win this for Wales this means so much to me.

"I know I’m playing well at the moment but this is a doubles game and I couldn’t win it without Jonny. This is a team and we deserve it."

The opening singles tie of the final saw Gerwyn Price take on Michael Smith, with the Welshman overcoming his opponent in a 4-1 victory.

The crucial moment in the encounter came in the fourth leg when Price broke throw to punish Smith for missing six darts at a double to hold.

World number four Smith was unable to recover as Wales took a 1-0 lead in the tie.

That advantage was then doubled when Jonny Clayton averaged 105 in a 4-2 win over Rob Cross to put his side one victory away from the crown.

Clayton and Price didn’t have to wait long to seal their victory, beating the English team 4-3 in the Doubles match, with Price taking out 64 on tops and the team finishing with a sensational average of 103.

South Wales Argus:

Wales become only the fourth team to claim World Cup glory after previous wins for England, Netherlands and 2019 winners Scotland.

"I’m the proudest man on the planet right now and to play with Gezzy, the best player in the world at the moment, I’m just so happy," said Clayton after the final.

"This means the world to me, and to beat England in the final, I'm so proud."

Wales’ quarter-final opponents were Australia, and once again a doubles decider was required to separate the teams after Price defeated Simon Whitlock but Clayton was unable to do the same against Damon Heta, who made an impressive World Cup debut for Australia.

The Welsh team were too strong in the pairs match progressing after a 4-2 win.

The semi-finals saw Wales face Germany, who had knocked out the Netherlands in the previous round, taking advantage of a back injury that saw Michael van Gerwen requiring treatment earlier in the morning.

It was a straightforward win with Price beating Gabriel Clemens 4-2 and Clayton moving past Max Hopp by the same scoreline.