Jonny Clayton clinches fantastic fourth Premier League Darts weekly title in Rotterdam

Jonny Clayton extended his lead at the top of the Premier League Darts table by landing a fourth weekly title of the season in Rotterdam courtesy of victory over Luke Littler.

Clayton continued his dominance of the league phase and effectively confirmed his place in next month’s play-offs as he triumphed at the Rotterdam Ahoy.

Having completed a hat-trick of weekly titles in Brighton last time out, the Welshman went back-to-back as he denied world number one Littler with a fine comeback in the final.

Clayton had earlier seen off home hero Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock to reach his fifth final of the campaign – where he recovered from 2-0 down to take six of the next eight legs.

“I would have taken one win, so to have four and be top of the table, happy days!” said Clayton.

“You have to take your chance and I’ve taken them again tonight and that’s all that counts.

“I had to do something special because it’s my 20th anniversary today and I did forget!

“I watched last week’s game against Michael and it hurt a little bit when someone said I was favourite to finish bottom.

“That really hurt. It annoyed me a bit to be honest. It’s going good for myself now and I’ve got a massive smile on my face.”

The league leader began his night by making it back-to-back victories over Van Gerwen, blasting past the Dutchman 6-2 with a magnificent 170 checkout to seal the deal.

The 51-year-old then followed up with a finishing masterclass against Rock in the semi-finals, defying seven 180s from the Northern Irishman as he edged through a last-leg decider.

Littler kicked off the final with an 11-darter and followed with a break of throw to double his lead, but only for Clayton to hit back with three legs on the spin, finishing 84 to lead 3-2.

Clayton then landed a crucial 78 finish to move one away from victory at 5-3, and after Littler claimed the ninth leg, ‘The Ferret’ fired in a third 180 and tops to finish the job after his opponent had missed a dart at tops to force a decider.

Littler bolstered his hopes of a play-off spot by reaching his fourth final in the space of seven weeks, seeing off Gerwyn Price and Luke Humphries to move on to 24 points.

The 2024 champion defied a hostile Rotterdam Ahoy crowd to dispatch Price with the aid of two 124 checkouts – the second of which on the bullseye to win the match.

Littler then edged past defending champion Humphries in their third straight last-leg decider this season, defying a 103 average from Humphries and holding on after almost letting a 5-2 lead slip.

In the other quarter-finals, Humphries defeated Dutch number one Gian van Veen 6-2 on his Premier League debut in Rotterdam, putting in yet another ton-plus average to pick up his first win in four weeks.

The defending champion resultantly leapfrogged Van Veen into fifth, but still sits three points shy of Van Gerwen in fourth.

Rock bagged his fourth consecutive quarter-final win courtesy of a 6-1 hammering of Stephen Bunting – who averaged in excess of 104 in defeat.

The Northern Irishman averaged 102.5 himself and hit 50 per cent of his double attempts to close the gap on Bunting at the foot of the table to just three points.

Premier League Darts 2026 Night 11 Results

Thursday April 16

Rotterdam Ahoy

Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Gian van Veen 2-6 Luke Humphries
Michael van Gerwen 2-6 Jonny Clayton
Josh Rock 6-1 Stephen Bunting

Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 6-5 Luke Humphries
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Josh Rock

Final
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Luke Littler