Jonny Clayton claimed Night Ten glory in Brighton to recapture top spot in the Premier League standings last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clayton scooped his third nightly victory of the campaign thanks to a trio of hard-fought wins over Luke Humphries, Josh Rock and Michael van Gerwen in the final to reinstate his position at the summit of the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Welsh number one pipped defending champion Humphries in a last-leg decider in his opening fixture, taking a clutch 84 outshot on the bullseye after surviving a match dart to sink the world number two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clayton then overturned his recent form against Rock to down the Northern Irishman 6-4, confirming his position in top spot and setting up a final against Van Gerwen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2021 Premier League champion struck a majestic 140 checkout to take a 1-0 lead in the contest, but found himself trailing 3-1 and then 5-2 after a fantastic surge by Van Gerwen, who was averaging over 105 as he closed in on a second nightly win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Clayton rallied in a remarkable comeback, surviving two match darts at 5-2 down and another pair of match darts at 5-4 down before levelling the contest with another 84 kill on the bullseye to make it 5-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 51-year-old then saw out the last-leg decider with a composed 12-darter to complete the comeback and seal nightly victory on the south coast in style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m back on top of the table, and it’s time for Luke Littler to start chasing me again!” declared Clayton, who now possesses a three-point gap over second-placed Luke Littler in the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I thought the game was over at 5-2 against Michael, but you have to take your chances, and that last leg was probably my best leg of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Obviously I lost to Josh [Rock] in the last couple of weeks, and it puts you under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Coming into tonight I was just hoping for two points. Anything after that was a bonus, so to win the night is great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s another trophy for the cabinet and I’m back on top, so I’m happy!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen reached his fourth nightly final of the campaign after battling through tight contests against Dutch compatriot Gian van Veen and two-time World Championship semi-finalist Stephen Bunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seven-time Premier League champion pipped Van Veen to a 6-4 win, capitalising on poor doubling from the world number three to move into the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch number two then edged past Bunting in a last-leg decider, increasing his buffer in the Play-Off places to four points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the other quarter-finals, Rock bagged his third consecutive opening-round win with a 6-3 success against Gerwyn Price, climbing up to six points and halting the Welshman’s push for top spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bunting put out an off-colour Littler 6-4 to move up to sixth in the standings, as the World Champion recorded the lowest televised PDC average of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next week, the Premier League moves across the English Channel, as Rotterdam hosts another crucial night of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dutch number one Van Veen will host Humphries on his first Premier League night on home soil, as home hero Van Gerwen faces Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler locks horns with Price in a crucial battle near the top of the table, while Bunting hopes to make further inroads towards the Play-Offs as he takes on Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ranking points will be awarded per night – with five to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the semi-finalists – to form the league table from which the top four players will progress to Finals Night at The O2 in London on Thursday May 28. Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Jonny Clayton claimed Night Ten glory in Brighton to recapture top spot in the Premier League standings last<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-11471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Jonny Clayton 6-5 Luke Humphries
Josh Rock 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Luke Littler
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Gian van Veen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Josh Rock
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Stephen Bunting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Michael van Gerwen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"