DARTS

Jonny Clayton emerged with much pride, more admirers, but no trophy after he lost in the final of the World Matchplay Darts on Sunday night.

“The Ferret” was denied in the final by a brilliant performance from Nathan Aspinall, who romped away to an 18-6 victory.

Clayton – who, like Aspinall, was featuring in his maiden World Matchplay final – performed magnificently in his run to the last game, which was fueled by his desire to triumph for his ill father.

The Carmarthenshire thrower had only claimed a solitary win at the Winter Gardens prior to this year’s tournament, and he was full of praise for the inspired Aspinall.

“I came out of the blocks well but then Nathan just turned up,” conceded the 48-year-old, who pocketed the £100,000 runner-up prize.

“I cannot argue with the result. I was beaten by the better player, and what a fantastic guy he is.

“To make the World Matchplay final is an amazing achievement. I’m a very proud man.”

Aspinall put together an astonishing display of 11 consecutive legs on his way to completing a convincing victory.

ATHLETICS

What a weekend it turned out to be for Melissa Courtney-Bryant, who smashed a second Welsh athletics record inside a week.

Five days after breaking the Welsh women’s 1500m mark with a new sub-four minute run of 3:58.01, the Wales Commonwealth Games star broke the mile record at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday night.

In, arguably, the greatest female mile race in history – a race in which the world record was shattered by almost five seconds – Courtney-Bryant finished seventh in a Welsh record time of 4:16.38.

That broke the old Welsh record of 4:19.41 set by Kirsty McDermott in Oslo back in 1985.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon ripped apart the world record when she completed the race in four minutes, 7.64 seconds to smash Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan’s 2019 mark of 4:12.33.

CRICKET

Glamorgan were forced to settle for a draw in their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Gloucestershire, which left head coach Matthew Maynard frustrated.

Chris Dent’s 21st first-class century proved the highlight of a low-key final day at Cheltenham as the match ended in an inevitable draw.

With so much time having been lost to rain, including a third-day washout, there were only bonus points to play for as Gloucestershire advanced their first innings from an overnight 134 for one to 402 for six before declaring.

Glamorgan took 12 points from the game, while Gloucestershire had to settle for 11 and remain without a win in the Championship this season.

Maynard said: “Had we gone four days here, we would have had a cracker of a game but it wasn’t to be. The weather has frustrated us but we’ve closed the gap on the top two so it’s not all doom and gloom.”