Clayton outlasts Zonneveld to reach fourth round

by · BBC Sport
Jonny Clayton has never been beyond the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship beforeGetty Images

Fifth seed Jonny Clayton needed a deciding set to eventually overcome world number 44 Niels Zonneveld and reach the last 16 of the PDC World Championship.

Welshman Clayton, 51, was back in action after a 12-day break, having received a bye through to round three because his second-round opponent Dom Taylor was suspended for failing a drugs test.

The first six sets of a high-quality match all went with the throw, Clayton moving a set in front of Zonneveld on three separate occasions, but the Dutch left-hander kept responding in an impressive display.

However, the former Premier League champion found the key break of throw in the second leg of the deciding set before sealing victory.

Both players averaged more than 98, while Clayton hit 11 180s to Zonneveld's seven.

Seventeen of the 32 seeds went out of the tournament in the opening two rounds and Clayton told Sky Sports: "I don't watch the games but I follow all the results and it's a chance [to go far in the tournament].

"I'm not going to lie, I look and think 'there's another one gone' and it gives me hope that I can do it. I'm looking forward to every time I get on this stage and I feel good."

In round four, Clayton will play the winner of Saturday evening's opening match between Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko and Andreas Harrysson of Sweden.

Luke Woodhouse, the 25th seed, defeated fellow Englishman Andrew Gilding 4-1 to reach the fourth round for the second successive year.

Woodhouse will next face Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski, who beat Dutchman Wesley Plaisier in a deciding set.

Ratajski trailed 3-1 but hit three ton-plus finishes to win the fifth set and survived three match darts in the sixth to force a decider, before wrapping up victory with a 116 checkout.

World number one and defending champion Luke Littler headlines Saturday's evening session, which starts at 19:00 GMT.

He will play Austria's Mensur Suljovic, while fourth seed Stephen Bunting is also in action against fellow Englishman James Hurrell.

Saturday results and schedule

  • Wesley Plaisier 3-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Andrew Gilding 1-4 Luke Woodhouse
  • Jonny Clayton 4-3 Niels Zonneveld

From 19:00 GMT:

  • Andreas Harrysson v Ricardo Pietreczko
  • Stephen Bunting v James Hurrell
  • Luke Littler v Mensur Suljovic

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