Clayton Claims Third Ranking Title in Barnsley

Welshman Jonny Clayton claimed the 2019 Players Championship 10 title on Sunday, with a 8-4 final win over Gabriel Clemens. The Ferret slammed in a 103.3 average during his victory over the German No.3 in Barnsley, a win that sees him now move up to 13^th on the PDC Order of Merit. Clayton tasted a first round defeat in Saturday’s event, losing 6-3 to Scott “The Mod” Baker, but bounced back in fine fashion defeating the likes of Jermaine Wattimena, Vincent van der Voort and Ian White, on his way to the £10,000 top prize. During this run Jonny hit an impressive 97.2 average that included 23 maximums, but the story could have been a lot different in Sunday’s opening round. Nathan Rafferty was Clayton’s opponent in Round 1 and the youngster missed a match dart at D20 in the ninth leg. Clayton polished off 25 to seal that leg and took the match 6-5 after rattling off 15 and 16 dart legs to win. This triumph is Clayton’s third ranking title alongside the PDC Austrian Darts Open and Players Championship 22 in 2018. It’s been a strong opening start to the year for Clayton, racking up two semi-finals, one quarter-final and five last 16 finishes on the Pro Tour so far. This win puts him in good stead for the upcoming World Cup of Darts in Hamburg at the start of June. This would likely see him reunited with World no.7 Gerwyn Price as Wales’ representatives at the 2019 edition of the tournament. Players Championship 10 Results The Barnsley Metrodome Last 16 Ian White 6-5 Justin Pipe Arron Monk 6-5 John Henderson Jonny Clayton 6-2 Marko Kantele Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Mario Robbe Mervyn King 6-3 Keegan Brown Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Jan Dekker Tytus Kanik 6-5 Wayne Jones Jose Justicia 6-5 Luke Woodhouse Quarter-Finals Ian White 6-5 Arron Monk Jonny Clayton 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Mervyn King Tytus Kanik 6-5 Jose Justicia Semi-Finals Jonny Clayton 7-2 Ian White Gabriel Clemens 7-3 Tytus Kanik Final Jonny Clayton 8-4 Gabriel Clemens Click here for full results and stats from DartConnect.