Clayton hopes to meet fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price at the climax of tonight’s Premier League Darts session
AN optimistic Jonny Clayton is excited at the prospect of an all-Welsh final in tonight’s Premier League Darts meeting in Cardiff.
A sell out crowd inside the Cardiff International Arena will be roaring on Clayton and fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price in tonight’s line-up of eight darts superstars.
“It will be fantastic – it will be noisy in there,” Clayton said of the atmosphere that awaits.
- Watch the full video interview here:
Clayton will start against Michael Smith, the current world champion. The two faced each other in Cardiff in 2020 when Clayton was a wildcard and Smith won 7-1.
“He beat me up big time [in 2020] so I hope revenge is back. I owe him one in Cardiff,” said Clayton.
“I’m confident of getting a result, if you aren’t confident there is no point in playing the game,” said Clayton.
Gerwyn Price will start tonight against Chris Dobey.
Price and Clayton are only the second and third Welshmen to compete in the Premier League, following on from Mark Webster’s single campaign in 2011 when he finished bottom of the table.
The Premier League 2023
The format of the Premier League changed in 2022 to make the nights more exciting than a handful of matches without an end product. The eight will compete from opening quarter final matches through to a final, where the winner of the night earns five points for the league. The runner-up receives three points, and semi-finalists receive two. Each game is best of 11 legs.
On the opening night in Belfast Jonny Clayton lost to Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 in the quarter final. Gerwyn Price lost 6-4 to Nathan Aspinall at the same stage.
Englishman Chris Dobey won the night on his Premier League debut.
The other quarter-finals in Cardiff tonight are: Michael van Gerwen vs Dimitri Van den Bergh and Nathan Aspinall vs Peter Wright.
The winners will advance to the semi-finals and then the final, with the winner picking up a £10,000 bonus and five points for the league.
Welsh darts in recent years
In the 2023 PDC World Championship, there were a record six Welsh participants and between them, Clayton and Price have won nearly all of darts’ major trophies in a Welsh surge in the darting world.
In 2018, Gerwyn Price became the first Welshman to win a televised darts major and he made his Premier League debut in the same year.
Jonny Clayton joined Price in The Premier League in 2021 and the two have been selected the past three seasons.
Wales have had players in seven of the 19 Premier League tournaments that have been held.
However, the Premier League, which has been visiting Cardiff since 2007, remains the only professional darts event to be held in Wales each year.
“It will be nice to have a few more tournaments in Wales. It will be great for the Welsh public and players,” said Clayton.
Despite recent Welsh success in the sport, there remains only one professional darts event in Wales each year – the Premier League in Cardiff – but could continued success change that?
Reaction
- See reaction to the event and fan’s thoughts here
