Jonny Clayton cruises to Players Championship 14 title

Jonny Clayton produced one of the most dominant ProTour campaigns in recent history to seal his first ranking title of 2025 at Players Championship 14 in Rosmalen.

Clayton thrashed emerging German star Dominik Gruellich 8-2 in Tuesday’s final, averaging 109.7 to secure a seventh Players Championship title.

The Welsh ace registered ton-plus averages in six of his seven matches at the Autotron, dropping just 11 legs across the course of the day.

“Today was a good day. I loved every second of it,” said Clayton, who ended with a tournament average of 103.6.

“Fair play to Dominik. He did brilliantly, but things went my way today, and hopefully it carries on going for the rest of the year.

“If I can find this form consistently, that would be brilliant. I’ll be dangerous then!

“I just take every tournament as it comes. When it doesn’t go well, you have to take it on the chin, but I will always keep trying.”

Clayton opened up with an emphatic 111 average in a 6-1 demolition of George Killington and followed up with averages of 101 and 102.6 in 6-2 wins over Swedish duo Oskar Lukasiak and Jeffrey de Graaf.

The Masters runner-up then powered through to the quarter-finals with a 6-1 rout of a struggling Michael van Gerwen, before whitewashing James Wade with a 101.3 average.

Clayton found himself 3-1 down to Danny Noppert in the semi-finals, only to reel off six consecutive legs to storm to victory with a 103.5 average.

Clayton produced a similarly explosive burst against Gruellich, landing a brace of 11-darters and 121 checkouts in the latter stages to pocket the £15,000 top prize.

Gruellich was featuring in his first senior PDC final, just weeks after clinching his maiden Development Tour title in Leicester.

The 23-year-old – who clinched his Tour Card in January – claimed the scalps of Daryl Gurney, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Michael Smith to cap off a breakthrough campaign.

Former World Champion Smith also impressed in Rosmalen, progressing to his second Players Championship semi-final of the year alongside Dutch number two Noppert.

Noppert’s compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode registered four consecutive ton-plus averages before succumbing to Gruellich in the quarter-finals, with Wade, Ricardo Pietreczko and Mickey Mansell also reaching the Last Eight.

Meanwhile, Ross Smith achieved perfection with a nine-dart finish during his Second Round clash win over Thibault Tricole.

Players Championship 14 Results

Tuesday April 15

First Round
Joshua Richardson 6-5 Alan Soutar
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Greg Ritchie
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Viktor Tingstrom
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Matt Campbell
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Peter Wright
Dominik Gruellich 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Florian Hempel
Kevin Burness 6-2 Graham Usher
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Mervyn King
Thomas Lovely 6-3 Ian White
Chris Dobey 6-5 Rob Owen
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Niko Springer
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Dylan Slevin 6-1 Maximilian Czerwinski
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Justin Hood 6-3 Kai Gotthardt
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Jarno Bottenberg 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Ross Smith 6-3 Connor Scutt
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Darryl Pilgrim
Michael Smith 6-4 Ted Evetts
Nick Kenny 6-4 Tytus Kanik
Mike De Decker 6-5 Stephen Burton
Tom Sykes 6-3 Pero Ljubic
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Steve Lennon 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Damon Heta 6-3 Chris Landman
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Andy Baetens
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Tavis Dudeney
Christian Kist 6-2 Leon Weber
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Nathan Rafferty 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Jimmy van Schie 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Adam Hunt 6-5 Keane Barry
Josh Rock 6-2 Jim Long
Robert Grundy 6-5 Carl Sneyd
Martijn Dragt 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Danny Noppert 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Callan Rydz 6-3 Marvin van Velzen
Andreas Harrysson 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Ricky Evans 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Gian van Veen 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Benjamin Reus
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Scott Campbell
Andy Boulton 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Ryan Searle 6-1 Berry van Peer
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Kevin Doets 6-2 Tom Bissell
Haupai Puha 6-4 Matthew Dennant
Martin Schindler 6-5 Adam Warner
Jitse Van der Wal 6-5 Dom Taylor
James Wade 6-5 Dennie Olde Kalter
Max Hopp 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Michele Turetta 6-2 Stefan Bellmont
Madars Razma 6-2 William O’Connor
James Hurrell 6-5 Jim Williams
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Owen Bates
Patrick Geeraets 6-4 Dragutin Horvat
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Cor Dekker
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-5 Stefaan Henderyck
Jonny Clayton 6-1 George Killington
Oskar Lukasiak 6-4 Danny Lauby

Second Round
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Joshua Richardson
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Dominik Gruellich 6-4 Alexander Merkx
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Kevin Burness
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Thomas Lovely
Chris Dobey 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Dylan Slevin
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Justin Hood
Darren Beveridge 6-1 Jarno Bottenberg
Ross Smith 6-3 Thibault Tricole – *Smith hits a nine-darter*
Michael Smith 6-3 Nick Kenny
Tom Sykes 6-5 Mike De Decker
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Steve Lennon
Damon Heta 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Christian Kist
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Adam Hunt
Robert Grundy 6-2 Josh Rock
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Martijn Dragt
Danny Noppert 6-4 Callan Rydz
Andreas Harrysson 6-3 Ricky Evans
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Gian van Veen
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Andy Boulton
Mickey Mansell 6-1 Ryan Searle
Kevin Doets 6-3 Haupai Puha
Martin Schindler 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
James Wade 6-3 Max Hopp
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Michele Turetta
James Hurrell 6-5 Madars Razma
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Patrick Geeraets
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak

Last 32
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Dominik Gruellich 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Chris Dobey 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Ross Smith
Michael Smith 6-2 Tom Sykes
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Damon Heta
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Jimmy van Schie 6-5 Robert Grundy
Danny Noppert 6-1 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Andreas Harrysson 6-0 Brendan Dolan
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Martin Schindler 6-5 Kevin Doets
James Wade 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 James Hurrell
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Jeffrey De Graaf

Last 16
Dominik Gruellich 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Chris Dobey
Michael Smith 6-2 Darren Beveridge
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Danny Noppert 6-2 Jimmy van Schie
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Andreas Harrysson
James Wade 6-5 Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Michael van Gerwen

Quarter-Finals
Dominik Gruellich 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael Smith 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Danny Noppert 6-1 Mickey Mansell
Jonny Clayton 6-0 James Wade

Semi-Finals
Dominik Gruellich 7-4 Michael Smith
Jonny Clayton 7-3 Danny Noppert

Final
Jonny Clayton 8-2 Dominik Gruellich