Jonny Clayton clinches Players Championship 12 crown
Jonny Clayton claimed a first ProTour title in more than two years as he triumphed at Players Championship 12 in Leicester, defeating Josh Rock 8-5 in the final.
Clayton produced a trio of ton-plus averages en route to his second ranking title of the year, providing himself the perfect tonic ahead of his bid for a second Premier League crown at The O2 on Thursday.
The five-time televised title winner defeated Rock in a repeat of the recent Austrian Open final as he doubled his tally for the season.
“Josh is a class act with a massive future so I’m going to enjoy any win against him, especially in a final,” said Clayton.
“I came here this weekend to get valuable match practice; I’m playing Gerwyn Price, arguably the best player in the world, on Thursday night so I need the practice.
“I’ll admit I’m the laziest practicer at home, so I needed this and it keeps me sharp for next week.
“I’m playing okay again and I’ve got a smile on my face. Hopefully it gives me that confidence to pick up the trophy for a second time.”
Clayton began the day in style, averaging 110 in a rampant 6-0 whitewash of Karel Sedlacek, before coming through a last-leg decider against emerging star Jurjen van der Velde.
A 6-1 rout of Kim Huybrechts was followed by a 107.4 average in a 6-4 victory over Germany’s Pascal Rupprecht to reach the Quarter-Finals at the Morningside Arena.
Having taken out top seed Dave Chisnall 6-2, Clayton then averaged 103.5 to edge out Damon Heta 6-5, having survived multiple match darts from the Austrian in the penultimate leg before taking out 147 in the decider to reach the final in style.
Rising star Rock took the scalps of Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson on his way to a second Players Championship final of the year, but was once again forced to settle for the runner-up spot.
The Northern Irishman defeated Harry Ward and Damian Mol in the opening two rounds before averaging 105.8 in overcoming Anderson 6-5 in a high quality encounter.
He then averaged 99.5 in seeing off Premier League champion Van Gerwen 6-3, before edging out Croatia’s Boric Krcmar in a deciding leg and going on to dispatch UK Open champion Andrew Gilding 7-5 in the Semi-Finals with a 101.3 average.
Krzysztof Ratajski, Raymond van Barneveld, Ross Smith and Dirk van Duijvenbode were among the notable First Round casualties, while Steve Beaton boosted his hopes of World Matchplay qualification with a run to the Last 32.
Players Championship 12 Results
Sunday May 21
First Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-1 Danny Jansen
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Graham Hall
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Lewis Williams
Nick Kenny 6-2 Alan Soutar
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Ross Smith
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Geert Nentjes
Matt Campbell 6-4 Scott Waites
Mike De Decker 6-1 Daniel Klose
George Killington 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Pascal Rupprecht 6-4 Danny Noppert
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Wayne Jones
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Jose Justicia
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Brian Raman
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Karel Sedlacek
Jurjen van der Velde 6-2 Devon Petersen
Steve Beaton 6-1 Jamie Clark
Dom Taylor 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Damon Heta 6-0 Ted Evetts
Conan Whitehead 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Vladimir Andersen
Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Robbie Knops
Martin Schindler 6-2 Florian Hempel
Darren Webster 6-4 Peter Jacques
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Kevin Burness
Owen Roelofs 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Rob Cross 6-2 Graham Usher
Mervyn King 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Chris Dobey 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Ricky Evans 6-4 Gian van Veen
Ryan Searle 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Joe Murnan
Scott Williams 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Jarred Cole 6-3 Luc Peters
Luke Humphries 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Callum Goffin 6-4 Ian White
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Kevin Doets 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gary Anderson 6-2 Arron Monk
Owen Bates 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Josh Rock 6-2 Harry Ward
Damian Mol 6-4 Connor Scutt
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Danny van Trijp
Keegan Brown 6-4 Dylan Slevin
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Josh Payne 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Madars Razma 6-4 Chris Landman
Tony Martinez 6-4 Richie Burnett
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Steve Lennon 6-2 Daniel Ayres
Jose De Sousa 6-1 Ron Meulenkamp
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Andrew Gilding 6-2 John Henderson
Ross Montgomery 6-3 Bradley Brooks
James Wade 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Nick Fullwell 6-2 Eddie Lovely
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Lee Evans
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Stephen Burton
William O’Connor 6-3 Jacques Labre
Joe Cullen 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Martijn Kleermaker 6-0 Robert Owen
Second Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Nick Kenny
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Matt Campbell
Mike De Decker 6-1 George Killington
Pascal Rupprecht 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Steve Beaton 6-5 Dom Taylor
Damon Heta 6-2 Conan Whitehead
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Darren Webster 6-5 Martin Schindler
Owen Roelofs 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Rob Cross 6-3 Mervyn King
Chris Dobey 6-5 Ricky Evans
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Ryan Searle
Scott Williams 6-5 Jarred Cole
Luke Humphries 6-4 Callum Goffin
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Kevin Doets
Gary Anderson 6-5 Owen Bates
Josh Rock 6-3 Damian Mol
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Keegan Brown
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Josh Payne
Tony Martinez 6-3 Madars Razma
Steve Lennon 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Ross Montgomery
James Wade 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Brendan Dolan 6-0 William O’Connor
Joe Cullen 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Losers: £750
Last 32
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Pascal Rupprecht 6-4 Mike De Decker
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Damon Heta 6-4 Steve Beaton
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Darren Webster
Rob Cross 6-3 Owen Roelofs
Chris Dobey 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Scott Williams 6-5 Luke Humphries
Boris Krcmar 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Josh Rock 6-5 Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Steve Lennon 6-4 Tony Martinez
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Jose De Sousa
Gerwyn Price 6-1 James Wade
Joe Cullen 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Pascal Rupprecht
Damon Heta 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey 6-4 Rob Cross
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Scott Williams
Josh Rock 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Steve Lennon
Joe Cullen 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Damon Heta 6-5 Chris Dobey
Josh Rock 6-5 Boris Krcmar
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Joe Cullen
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Jonny Clayton 7-6 Damon Heta
Josh Rock 7-5 Andrew Gilding
Losers: £4,000
Final
Jonny Clayton 8-5 Josh Rock
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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