Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Clayton won the 2016 Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions. His performances on the PDC Pro Tour ensured his qualification for the 2017 PDC World Darts Championship for the first time. His nickname is The Ferret.
Jonny Clayton | |||||||||
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![]() Clayton in 2019 | |||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Nickname | "The Ferret" | ||||||||
Born | Llanelli, Wales | 4 October 1974||||||||
Home town | Pontyberem, Wales | ||||||||
Darts information | |||||||||
Playing darts since | 1995 | ||||||||
Darts | 21 Gram Red Dragon Signature | ||||||||
Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||
Walk-on music | "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry | ||||||||
Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||
BDO | 2008–2015 | ||||||||
PDC | 2015– | ||||||||
Current world ranking | 18 | ||||||||
BDO majors – best performances | |||||||||
World Masters | Last 272: 2012 | ||||||||
PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||
World Ch'ship | Last 32: 2017, 2020 | ||||||||
World Matchplay | Last 32: 2018, 2019, 2020 | ||||||||
World Grand Prix | Last 32: 2018, 2019 | ||||||||
Grand Slam | Quarter Final: 2018 | ||||||||
Premier League | Challenger: 2020 | ||||||||
European Ch'ship | Last 16: 2017, 2019 | ||||||||
UK Open | Semi Final: 2020 | ||||||||
Players Ch'ship Finals | Runner Up: 2017 | ||||||||
Masters | Quarter Final: 2020 | ||||||||
Other tournament wins | |||||||||
Players Championships
European Tour Events
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Career
Clayton joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2015 after winning a Tour Card on the final day of Qualifying School.[1] His first quarter-final came at the sixth Players Championship event and he lost 6–1 to Benito van de Pas.[2] 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.[3]
Clayton's first appearance at the UK Open came at the 2016 edition, but he was defeated 6–3 by James Wilson in the second round.[4] 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.[5] A 2–0 victory over Tony Darlow saw Clayton claim the non-ranking Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions title.[6] He lost 6–3 to Darren Webster in round one of the Players Championship Finals.[7]
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.[8] He lost 4–1 to Ian White in the second round.[9] Clayton won his first PDC ranking title with Players Championship 22 after beating James Wilson 6-1 in the final.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12]
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.[13]
Clayton kicked off his 2020 season by defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 10-6 in the opening round of the 2020 Masters.[14]
World Championship performances
PDC
- 2017: Second round (lost to Ian White 1–4)
- 2018: First round (lost to Jamie Lewis 0–3)
- 2019: Second round (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 1–3)
- 2020: Third round (lost to Stephen Bunting 0–4)
Career finals
PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] | Ref. |
Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | Players Championship Finals | ![]() |
2–11 (l) | [15] |
- (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
Performance timeline
Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PDC World Championship | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | |
The Masters | DNQ | 1R | QF | |||
UK Open | 1R | 2R | 3R | 4R | 5R | SF |
World Matchplay | Did not qualify | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||
World Grand Prix | Did not qualify | 1R | 1R | |||
European Championship | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | ||
Grand Slam of Darts | RR | DNQ | QF | DNQ | ||
Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 1R | F | QF | 1R |
Performance timeline legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DNP | Did not play in the event | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
References
- "PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC.tv. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
- "Mighty Mike Defies Wade For Title". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Monday". PDC.tv. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "Anderson Takes Title In Barnsley". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "2016 Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "2016 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "William Hill World Championship Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "2017 PDC World Championship Fixtures". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "Clinical Clayton's Maiden Title". Professional Darts Corporation. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- Allen, Dave (26 October 2017). "Minehead Treble For Unbeatable Van Gerwen". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- Allen, Dave (27 November 2017). "William Hill World Darts Championship Draw". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- "Challengers confirmed for 2020 Unibet Premier League". PDC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- "Jonny Clayton: Welshman ends Michael van Gerwen's Masters reign". BBC Sport. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
- Allen, Dave (26 October 2017). "Minehead Treble For Unbeatable Van Gerwen". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
External links
- Player profile on Jonny Clayton from Dartsdatabase