World Grand Prix: Jonny Clayton remains on collision course with fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price | Darts News

Jonny Clayton puts an end to Jose de Sousa’s hopes once again after beating him in the Premier League final in May; he stays the course for a confrontation with Gerwyn Price on Saturday; the world No. 1 headlining the first two quarter-finals Thursday evening from 7 p.m. on Sky Sports Arena

A magnificent performance from Jonny Clayton placed him in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix for the first time, while there was more Dutch happiness for Danny Noppert at Leicester.

Clayton hit with finishes of four tons and over and finished with a three-dart average of 94.95 to end the hopes of Jose de Sousa, who was the last seed remaining in the bottom half of the draw.

The Premier League champion will next face Krzysztof Ratajski after the Pole continued his excellent year by putting an end to Rob Cross’s hopes.

Danny Noppert knocked out Vincent van der Voort in an all-Dutch clash to set up a meeting with Ian White, who fought back to defeat Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas.

Clayton steals the show

In a heart-wrenching encounter between De Sousa and Clayton, “The Special One” delivered the decisive part of the first set to move forward.

‘The Ferret’ had a dart for the second set, but the Portuguese ace leapt with a 10-dart leg to bring the score to 2-2. However, the Welshman took advantage of a few nerves from his opponent to land 70 in two darts for a level match.

Clayton showed his quality by shattering De Sousa with a 110 strikeout (T10, 18, D16) in the return leg of the third set and he took control of the game after a nice out.

He then opened the fourth with a spectacular 116 (T20, 20, D18) before making it six consecutive innings and nine of the last 10 with tops. Although De Sousa stopped the rot, Clayton got the job done with a sensational 112 (T20, 20, D16).

Poland’s Eagle Ratajski climbs into the bottom eight

The combinations of 56, 53 and 51 gave Ratajski a perfect start to his clash, scoring a superb 96 in a dominant display against Cross.

The former Cross world champion rebounded after making 87 and 106 strikeouts (T20, 14, D16) to sweep the second set.

Ratajski, who reached the quarter-finals at Worlds and World Matchplay semi-finals this year, was meticulous on the och and deadly in doubles as he won the third set against darts before sealing the victory with a double four to make it until the next stage of the tournament.

More Dutch fun for Noppert

Van der Voort, making his 10th appearance at the double in-double out event, gave away a 2-0 lead to Michael van Gerwen’s conqueror Noppert, who clinched three straight matches to win a fabulous first set in which he got an average of 93.16.

It got even better for ‘The Freeze’ as he opened the next set with an incredible 130 checkout on target (20, T20, 50) before landing a quality 101 (20, T19, D12) and he completed a sweep with a 62 finish.

Quick pitcher Van der Voort kept the game alive by sending the third set in a decisive game, but Noppert remained calm to hold his pitch and pin the double 11 for a straight set victory.

White completes its sparkling comeback

Lithuanian spoiler Labanauskas got off to a flying start, shutting out the Whites in the first set, averaging “Diamond” at 72 meager.

‘Lucky D’ continued the assault making six consecutive innings to get closer to the quarter-finals. But White found his lineup to win six of the next eight stages to send the contest into a decisive shootout.

Labanauskas stopped the rot by breaking the opener with a neat 90 finish, but White responded with a gorgeous 136 (T20, T20, D8) to send Morningside Arena into a frenzy. He then nailed the tops to move a winning leg, but the 45-year-old sent him the distance after pinning D10.

It was White who made a stunning comeback, scoring D8 after a dramatic 19-dart stage, averaging 88.29 and a 45 percent success rate.

Join us for live coverage of the World Grand Prix from Leicester’s Morningside Arena throughout the week. Check out daily darts news at skysports.com/darts, our mobile app and Twitter account @skysportsdarts