Jonny Clayton

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Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton 4-6 James Wade - Jonny Clayton - 2019251202135 2019-09-08 PDC European Darts Matchplay - 0413 - AK8I0414 (cropped).jpg
Clayton in 2019
Personal information
Nickname"The Ferret"
Born (1974-10-04) 4 October 1974 (age 47)
Llanelli, Wales
Home townPontyberem, Wales
Darts information
Playing darts since1995
Darts21 Gram Red Dragon Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2008–2015
PDC2015–
Current world ranking8 Steady (15 January 2022)[1]
BDO majors – best performances
World MastersLast 272: 2012
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 16: 2022
World MatchplayLast 16: 2021
World Grand PrixWinner (1): 2021
UK OpenSemi Final: 2020
Grand SlamQuarter Final: 2018, 2021
European Ch'shipSemi Final: 2020
Premier LeagueWinner (1): 2021
Players Ch'ship FinalsRunner Up: 2017
MastersWinner (1): 2021
World Series FinalsWinner (1): 2021
Other tournament wins
PDC World Cup of Darts – (Team event) 2020
WDF Europe Cup Team 2014
Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions 2016

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2017, 2019
Players Championship (BOL) 2021
Players Championship (MK) 2021

European Tour Events

Austrian Darts Open 2018

Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed The Ferret, he was half of the Welsh team that won the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts before winning his first televised singles title, the 2021 Masters, which would lead him to qualifying for the 2021 Premier League Darts, which he would go on to win as well. He subsequently won his first ranked televised title at the 2021 World Grand Prix.

Career[]

2015[]

Clayton joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2015 after winning a Tour Card on the final day of Qualifying School against Jake Strong in a 6-0 whitewash, a result that “Strongy” seems to replicate on many occasions.[2] His first quarter-final came at the sixth Players Championship event and he lost 6–1 to Benito van de Pas.[3] Clayton qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts later that year, but despite winning his opening match against Terry Jenkins, he went on to finish bottom of his group.[4]

2016[]

Clayton's first appearance at the UK Open came in the 2016 edition, but he was defeated 6–3 by James Wilson in the second round.[5] Clayton recorded a quarter-final showing at the eighth Players Championship and reached his first semi-final at the 12th event, but was whitewashed 6–0 by Gary Anderson.[6] A 2–0 victory over Tony Darlow saw Clayton claim the non-ranking Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions title.[7] He lost 6–3 to Darren Webster in round one of the Players Championship Finals.[8]

2017[]

Clayton made his PDC World Championship debut in the 2017 event, and came from a set down to beat fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price 3–1 in the first round.[9] He lost 4–1 to Ian White in the second round.[10]

Clayton won his first PDC ranking title with Players Championship 22 after beating James Wilson 6-1 in the final.[11]

Clayton got to his first PDC major final at the 2017 Players Championship Finals. He beat Jeffrey de Graaf, Price, Stephen Bunting, Steve Beaton and number 1 seed Rob Cross, before losing out to Michael van Gerwen.[12]

2018[]

His run to the final saw him break into the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit, meaning that he was a seed at the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, where he was eliminated by fellow countryman Jamie Lewis.[13]

He went on to win the 2018 Austrian Darts Open by defeating Gerwyn Price 8-5 in the final. This meant that he was the first welsh winner on the PDC European tour.

2019[]

Clayton won Players Championship 10 by defeating Gabriel Clemens 8-4 in the final. This was Jonny's 3rd ranking title.

2020: World Cup Champion[]

At this point a three-time PDC ranking title winner, Clayton was selected as a 'challenger' for the 2020 Premier League night in Cardiff, but lost 7–1 to an inspired Michael Smith.[14]

Clayton kicked off his 2020 season by defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 10-6 in the opening round of the 2020 Masters.[15]

He went on to win the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts for Wales with Gerwyn Price as his teammate, defeating the English side of Rob Cross and Michael Smith 3-0.

2021: First individual title, Premier League and Grand Prix champion[]

At the Masters Clayton beat José de Sousa, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright en route to the final where he faced Mervyn King. Clayton won the match 11–8 to win his first major individual televised title. In his match against Wade, he was successful in checking out 10 times out of 11 for a success rate of 91%, which the PDC claimed to be a possible world record.[16]

He won two Players Championship events early in 2021.

Upon winning the Masters tournament, Clayton was invited to participate in the 2021 Premier League Darts, where on the third night of his debut season he hit a nine-dart finish on the way to beating José de Sousa.

After the fifth evening of league action Clayton was placed at the top of the league. He slipped to as low as 8th, before going into 4th position for night 16. He had to achieve at least a draw to secure his place in the play offs. He managed to do so and won his game against Dimitri Van den Bergh winning 8-6.

In the play offs he beat Michael van Gerwen 10-8 in their semi-final. He went on to defeat José de Sousa 11-5 in the final. In doing so he became the first Welsh winner of the Premier League and the first player to finish 4th in the league phase and win the title.

Clayton participated in the World Grand Prix in which he reached the final after beating Callan Rydz, José de Sousa, Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert along the way. In the final Clayton prevailed over World No. 1 Gerwyn Price with a 5-1 victory winning him his third major tournament of the year. Three weeks later, Clayton picked up his fourth TV title of the year with an 11–6 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final of the World Series of Darts Finals.

World Championship performances[]

PDC[]

Career finals[]

PDC major finals: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1] Ref.
Runner-up 1. 2017 Players Championship Finals Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2–11 (l) [17]
Winner 1. 2021 The Masters England Mervyn King 11–8 (l) [18]
Winner 2. 2021 Premier League Portugal José de Sousa 11–5 (l) [19]
Winner 3. 2021 World Grand Prix Wales Gerwyn Price 5–1 (s) [20]
Winner 4. 2021 World Series of Darts Finals Belgium Dimitri van den Bergh 11–6 (l)

PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Country Teammate Opponents in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 2020 World Cup of Darts  Wales Gerwyn Price  England – Michael Smith and Rob Cross 3–0 (m)

Career statistics[]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Prel. DNQ DNP NH WD
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Prel.) Preliminary round; (DNQ) Did not qualify; (DNP) Did not participate; (NH) Not held; (WD) Withdrew

Performance timeline[]

Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship DNQ 2R 1R 2R 3R 3R 4R
UK Open 1R 2R 3R 4R 5R SF 6R
World Matchplay DNQ 1R 1R 1R 2R
World Grand Prix DNQ 1R 1R 2R W
European Championship DNQ 2R 1R 2R SF DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts RR DNQ QF DNQ 2R QF
Players Championship Finals DNQ 1R F QF 1R 2R SF
Non-ranked televised events
The Masters DNQ 1R QF W SF
Premier League Darts DNP C W
World Cup of Darts DNP QF 1R W SF
World Series of Darts Finals DNQ 1R DNQ QF DNQ W
Career statistics
Year-end ranking 74 60 31 15 16 17 8

References[]

  1. ^ a b (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
  1. ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDC. 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  2. ^ "PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC.tv. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Mighty Mike Defies Wade For Title". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. ^ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Monday". PDC.tv. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  5. ^ "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Anderson Takes Title In Barnsley". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  7. ^ "2016 Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  8. ^ "2016 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  9. ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  10. ^ "2017 PDC World Championship Fixtures". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Clinical Clayton's Maiden Title". Professional Darts Corporation. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  12. ^ Allen, Dave (26 October 2017). "Minehead Treble For Unbeatable Van Gerwen". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  13. ^ Allen, Dave (27 November 2017). "William Hill World Darts Championship Draw". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Challengers confirmed for 2020 Unibet Premier League". PDC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Jonny Clayton: Welshman ends Michael van Gerwen's Masters reign". BBC Sport. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  16. ^ BEST EVER FINISHING?!| Jonny Clayton with 91% checkout success rate at the 2021 Ladbrokes Masters!. Professional Darts Corporation – via YouTube.
  17. ^ Allen, Dave (26 November 2017). "Minehead Treble For Unbeatable Van Gerwen". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  18. ^ Phillips, Josh (31 January 2021). "Clayton wins Ladbrokes Masters and final Premier League place". PDC. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  19. ^ Banks, Jamie (28 May 2021). "Clayton caps amazing debut season with Unibet Premier League glory". PDC. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  20. ^ Allen, Dave (9 October 2021). "Clinical Clayton claims BoyleSports World Grand Prix glory". PDC. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

External links[]

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