Jonny Clayton beat Wesley Plaisier 8-5 in the Players Championship 14 to become the 14th different winner in as many events.
Clayton and Plaisier have both had solid performances over the last two days. Plaisier unexpectedly made it to consecutive finals, earning £20,000 across both days for his efforts.
Clayton made it to the quarter-final in Players Championship 13, losing 6-4 to eventual winner Ross Smith before securing victory over Plaisier yesterday.
He beat Darren Beveridge, Andy Baetens, James Hurrell, Dom Taylor, Martin Schindler and Cameron Menzies on route to the final.
It was another good final with both players averaging 100+ with Clayton registering a 106 average and hitting seven 180s.
It was not smooth running for the Welshman though with Plaisier hitting a 161, 121 and 122 checkouts to keep the pressure on throughout.
Clayton made sure to give Plaisier some well deserved praise saying:
“Fair play to Wesley. How he hasn’t got a Tour Card I’ll never know, because he can seriously play darts.”
The win definitely meant something to Clayton as he went on to say:
“Confidence is low when you’re not picking up results, but I’ve got my mojo back. I’ve got a smile on my face, and winning always helps.
“I was way off at the start of the year, but something has clicked.
“I played well yesterday and I played well today, so my consistency is there, and fingers crossed I can keep it going.
This win means there have been 14 different winners across 14 different Players Championship events in 2024 proving how difficult this format is to win, even for the best of the best.”
🏆So pleased to have won the title today.
— Jonny Clayton (@JonnyClay9) July 3, 2024
Long overdue!
I played some solid stuff all day, and it's amazing to get the rewards.
It's all good preparation for Blackpool, and my game is in a great place ahead of the World Matchplay 🏴
See you next weekend! pic.twitter.com/G433j549SX
SEE MORE TOURNAMENT NEWS FROM DECENT DARTS
👉 Ross Smith wins Players Championship 13
👉 Dimitri Van Den Bergh wins Players Championship 12
James Wade Secures Final World Matchplay Position
As we covered this yesterday, it was quite tense for Wade going into yesterday’s action.
He moved ahead of Kevin Doets on the ProTour Order of Merit to position himself in the final qualifying space (16th) for qualification to the 2024 World Matchplay.
Doets lost in the first round 6-2 to Steve Beaton as Wade progressed to the last 32 where he eventually lost to Graham Usher 6-5.
This didn’t matter though, Doets first round exit was enough to ensure Wade, who won the 2007 World Matchplay, would return for a record 19th time.
2024 Players Championship 14 Results
Last 16
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Josh Rock 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Graham Usher 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Luke Humphries
Damon Heta 6-0 Robert Owen
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Dom Taylor
Martin Schindler 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Josh Rock
Wesley Plaisier 6-2 Graham Usher
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Damon Heta
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Martin Schindler
Semi-Finals
Wesley Plaisier 7-4 Ryan Joyce
Jonny Clayton 7-3 Cameron Menzies
Final
Jonny Clayton 8-5 Wesley Plaisier
For tournament news, we’ll be back next week providing a preview and results for the 2024 World Matchplay from July 13-21. Find all the action on decentdarts.com
In the meantime, check out some of our latest posts below:
➡️ WATCH 9 greatest darts matches of all time