Wales duo Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price were unable to defend their World Cup of Darts title, as they made it through to the semi-finals of the competition before losing 2-1 to eventual winners Scotland in Jena, Germany.
Pontyberem man Clayton, the winner of both the Masters and Premier League of Darts titles in 2021, had beaten Peter Wright 4-2 in his singles match to take the match to a deciding doubles contest.
Price had lost 4-2 to John Henderson in his singles match, and Wright and Henderson won the pairs match 4-3 to advance to the final.
The Scots went on to defeat Austria pair Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez 3-1 to take the 2021 title, having also beat the Dutch pair of Michael van Gerwen and Dirk van Duijvenbode in their quarter-final match.
Clayton and Price, the defending champions from 2020, had secured their place in the semi-finals with a victory over Australia, with Price seeing off Simon Whitlock 4-1 and Clayton beating Damon Heta 4-3.
Cazoo World Cup of Darts Semi-Final Picture: Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe
The Welsh duo had also beaten Lithuania in the quarter-finals, with Price defeating Mindaugas Barauskas 4-2 although Clayton was beaten 4-2 by Darius Labanauskas.
In the deciding set, Clayton and Price won the pairs 4-3 to set up their last eight game against the Australian pair.
Despite missing out in the semi-finals it has been a memorable year for the Welsh duo, with Pontyberem plasterer Clayton claiming the Premier League title at his first attempt by beating Jose de Sousa 11-5 in the final in Milton Keynes in May.
Clayton, 46, beat Mervyn King in the Master final to claim his first individual televised PDC title in January and has registered two Players' Championships titles.
Cazoo World Cup of Darts Semi-Final Picture: Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe
Meanwhile Price, 36, has won the 2021 World Championship, became world number one and won a European Tour title and two Players Championship titles.
Price went into this year's tournament having recently won the inaugural Hungarian Darts Trophy, his fourth European Tour title.
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