Premier League champion Clayton came from a set down to defeat seventh seed Jose de Sousa 3-1, averaging 95 as he continued his challenge to claim a maiden televised ranking triumph.

Noppert, meanwhile, followed up Monday’s impressive win over Michael van Gerwen by seeing off another Dutchman, Vincent van der Voort, in straight sets.

Clayton now plays Krzysztof Ratajski in the last eight on Thursday, after the Polish ace’s 3-1 defeat of Rob Cross, while Ian White’s brilliant comeback from two sets down to defeat Darius Labanauskas moves him through to a tie with Noppert.

Welshman Clayton had found himself behind in his tie with Grand Slam of Darts winner De Sousa, who came from 2-1 down to win the first set in a deciding leg.

De Sousa also led in the second and then responded to a stunning ten-darter from Clayton with a 98 finish to force a deciding leg – only to see the world number 14 square the contest by taking out 70 in two darts.

Clayton then raced through set three with finishes of 60, 110 and 100, and took out 116 on his way to a two-leg lead in the fourth set.

De Sousa hit back with a 13-darter, but Clayton clinically wrapped up the win by completing a 12-dart leg with a 112 checkout – ending the tie with four ton-plus finishes and 11 doubles from just 17 attempts.

“I’m happy with that,” said Clayton. “I lost the first set to a class player so I had to dig deep.

“I broke him back in the second set and I did my job. It was good darts by both of us, I kept my nerve and got over the finishing line so I’m happy.

“I’m chasing a ranked event, and hopefully this is it so let’s see what happens. I’m going to try my best to get to the final and try and win it.

“Krzysztof is a class act and I’ve got to have my A-game. Nobody’s afraid of anybody anymore, so if we go out and do our job well, we’re hard to beat.”

Noppert opened with one in two of his starting doubles, and in a clinical finishing display had a checkout ratio almost double that of Van der Voort to progress to a tie with Ian White.

Van der Voort started the brighter with legs of 15 and 13 darts, only to see Noppert win the next three to claim the first set.

Noppert then took out 130 and 101 to lead 2-0 in set two and responded to Van der Voort’s 87 checkout with a 12-darter to wrap up the set and double his advantage.

He opened set three with a 100 checkout as the pair shared the opening four legs, and when Van der Voort was unable to check out 134 in the decider, Noppert returned on double 11 to seal the victory.

“I’m really happy with this performance,” said Noppert. “In the beginning, I was a little bit nervous, but I got myself back and I played brilliant I think.

“I’ve won against two players who I watched when I was a kid, so I’m really happy. It was a tough game, and I didn’t expect it would be 3-0, but I took my chances.

“Ian White is a good player and I’m looking forward to every match. I’m enjoying it here and I’m confident.”

White got through to his third BoyleSports World Grand Prix quarter-final, completing a remarkable comeback from two sets down against Darius Labanauskas with victory in a sudden-death leg.

Lithuania’s Labanauskas had looked on course to claim a landmark win in his career after claiming the first six legs without reply to secure a two-set lead.

White, though, ignited his challenge with winning legs of 14, 15 and 12 darts as he took the third set 3-1, and also claimed the fourth by the same scoreline to level the tie.

Labanauskas’ break of throw with a 90 finish in the opening leg of the deciding set was cancelled out by a match-high 136 checkout for a 12-darter from White, who then moved 2-1 up.

Double ten saw the Lithuanian take the game all the way to a one-leg shoot-out, but White was first to a double and landed double eight at the first time of asking to complete a gutsy fightback.

“It’s unbelievable,” admitted White. “I couldn’t get going, and when I was two sets down and hadn’t won a leg, it was going to be a nightmare.

“I had to do something – I don’t know what happened, I think I hit a double and the crowd got on my side. I was dead and buried and the crowd helped me out.

“I’d love to win the tournament, that’s what we’re all here for, so fingers crossed.”

Krzysztof Ratajski won through to his first World Grand Prix quarter-final with a 3-1 success against Rob Cross, continuing his fine form in televised events this year.

Ratajski was a quarter-finalist in the World Championship and UK Open before reaching July’s World Matchplay semi-finals, and will now compete in the last eight in Leicester on Thursday.

The Polish star claimed the opening set without reply, breaking throw twice in a strong start to the contest, only for Cross to finish 87 and 106 as he took set two in the same manner.

Ratajski then won set three by a 3-1 scoreline and landed three 14-darters in four legs in the next as he wrapped up the win.

“I feel great, really good,” said Ratajski, who also overcame Nathan Aspinall in round one. Today I was a little nervous but I’m happy that I won.

“Rob is a great player and I knew it would be a very hard match, but we were both a little nervous. I expected more from Rob, it was a crazy game.

“This match showed me I must be more concentrated. In the last two years, I lost my first match, but now I’ve won two and I hope I will win another.”

The quarter-finals will also feature reigning champion Gerwyn Price’s tantalising tie with Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting’s meeting with Ryan Searle.

The tournament is being broadcast live on Sky Sports, as well as through the PDC’s international broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and through PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.

2021 BoyleSports World Grand Prix

Wednesday, October 6

4x Second Round

Ian White 3-2 Darius Labanauskas (0-3, 0-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-2)

Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Rob Cross (3-0, 0-3, 3-1, 3-1)

Danny Noppert 3-0 Vincent van der Voort (3-2, 3-1, 3-2)

Jonny Clayton 3-1 Jose de Sousa (2-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1)

Thursday, October 7 (7 pm BST)

Quarter-Finals

Danny Noppert v Ian White

Krzysztof Ratajski v Jonny Clayton

Gerwyn Price v Dave Chisnall

Stephen Bunting v Ryan Searle

Format

Quarter-Finals – Best of five sets, best of five legs per set.

All legs will be double start and double finish, meaning players must first hit a double before they can begin scoring in each leg. The bullseye will count as double 25.

There will be no tie-break in any match; the deciding set would end 3-2, with the fifth leg being the deciding leg.

The post Clayton & Noppert star to reach Boylesports WGP QFs appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Wright had ended the year’s second and fourth blocks of PDC Super Series action with titles in recent months. He repeated the trick in Coventry as he landed another £10,000 top prize.

Wright produced four ton-plus averages in his seven wins on the day but reserved his best performance for the final in a high-quality contest with Van Gerwen.

Finishes of 84, 74, and 64 helped Wright into a 3-0 lead, with Van Gerwen needing a 130 finish for a 12-darter to hit back in leg four.

Wright punished a miss at the bull from the Dutchman to restore his cushion with a 12-darter in leg five. Van Gerwen opening the next with seven perfect darts only to see his rival finish 324 in six darts with a 180 and a 144 checkout.

Double 16 saw Van Gerwen claim a second leg, but Wright took out 87 for a 12-darter, double 11 to capitalize on two further misses from the three-time World Champion, and a 71 finish to complete a brilliant display-ending with an average of almost 109.

Wright also defeated Boris Krcmar, Steve Brown, Martijn Kleermaker, Daryl Gurney, Danny Noppert, and James Wade during the day, and heads into the Betfred World Matchplay full of confidence.

After the match, Wright said: “Beating Michael means a lot and to beat the players I did on the way through is great.”

“I had some loose darts and missed so many doubles as well against people, but it’s nice to win.”

𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡

Peter Wright beats Michael van Gerwen 8-2 to win a third ProTour title of the year.

The wait for a title in 2021 for Michael van Gerwen goes on…

108 average in the final too, to Van Gerwen's 106. Incredible standard pic.twitter.com/3qYKUlYJQe

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 8, 2021

Wright continued his tinker-man style by using a new gold-coated set of darts on his way to victory, and he is now targeting World Matchplay glory with the set-up.

“I only got the gold darts on Wednesday morning, I like these darts, they’re new and I love them – the way they look in the board as well,” Wright added.

“I feel like I want to play proper darts, I didn’t want to show too much before Blackpool, I can win it.”

Peter Wright ends Martijn Kleermaker’s World Matchplay hopes as he reaches the Last 16 at Players Championship 20, with a 6-5 victory and an average of 95.8! #PDCSuperSeries @Charlie10644202 @lukejones5 @ChopsyChazza @TonyDJTStanding @Joe_1879 @HighRollerRadio pic.twitter.com/H8uB3VEajG

— Joe Williams (@Joewillo180) July 8, 2021

The end of Van Gerwen’s run

Van Gerwen won through to his second Players Championship final of 2021 and averaged 113 in a victory over John Henderson as well as over 100 in wins over Chris Dobey and Michael Smith – winning both matches in a deciding leg.

He also defeated Adam Gawlas, Dave Chisnall and Jose de Sousa and averaged 106 in the final, but remains without a tournament win since November’s Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals.

Breakfast all done now it’s time to prepare for day 1. Feeling great and ready for action. Thanks for all the support @Winmau @KeukenConc @ModusDarts180 pic.twitter.com/5OmtF1n57n

— Michael Van Gerwen (@MvG180) July 5, 2021

While the previous three days had seen victories for players from outside the world’s top 16; Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey, and Ross Smith. The sport’s top names showed their quality on Thursday.

Reigning UK Open champion Wade and Grand Slam of Darts champion De Sousa reached the semi-finals, with World Champion Gerwyn Price amongst the quarter-finalists.

Dimitri Van den Bergh won through to the last 16 before losing to De Sousa in another high-quality battle in the final ranking event before beginning his World Matchplay title defence in Blackpool.

Thursday’s event also saw Kim Huybrechts and Gabriel Clemens both land nine-darters, taking the total of perfect legs landed during PDC Super Series 5 to five across the four days.

Players Championship 20 was also the final tournament before the cut-off for World Matchplay qualification. The 32-player field was confirmed ahead of the tournament’s return to the iconic Winter Gardens.

The PDC ProTour returns on August 2-3 with a Players Championship double-header in Milton Keynes.

Nine-Darters!

Kim Huybrechts landed a nine-dart finish to conclude his first-round win over Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Gabriel Clemens hit a nine-darter in the third leg of his first-round game with Jelle Klaasen.

𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙀-𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙀𝙍

Gabriel Clemens missed Double 12 for a 141 finish in the previous leg but he follows that with perfection as he pins his first ever PDC nine on that same checkout!

Practise makes perfect. pic.twitter.com/2WRkQbGTi9

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 8, 2021

Round-Up of the Players Championship 20 results

Thursday, July 8, Coventry Building Society Arena

Last 16

Jose de Sousa 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Chas Barstow 6-4 Brendan Dolan

Michael Smith 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Dave Chisnall

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Martin Schindler

James Wade 6-1 Eddie Lovely

Peter Wright 6-4 Daryl Gurney

Danny Noppert 6-4 Ryan Searle

Quarter-Finals

Jose de Sousa 6-3 Chas Barstow

Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Michael Smith

James Wade 6-3 Gerwyn Price

Peter Wright 6-3 Danny Noppert

Semi-Finals

Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Jose de Sousa

Peter Wright 7-2 James Wade

Final

Peter Wright 8-2 Michael van Gerwen

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