Jonny Clayton produced a dominant display to win the New Zealand Darts Masters for the first time, defeating fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price 8-4 in Auckland.
At 51 years old, Clayton was pursuing a second World Series title and had already eliminated top seed Gian van Veen and England’s James Wade on his way to the final. He then punished early errors from Price with checkouts of 72, 158, 80 and 62 to storm into a 5-1 lead over his World Cup partner.
Price, who beat Clayton when they squared off in the 2022 final, continued to miss doubles and soon trailed 7-1. He rallied by taking three successive legs, but Clayton finished the contest with a 124 checkout.
Clayton said: “It was great to play in the final with my World Cup partner. It just shows that two rugby boys can play darts, and to play against each other in the world of rugby here in New Zealand, I’ve got a smile on my face. I really enjoyed that. It’s 1-1 now, so next year – winner takes all!”
Price had earlier beaten Australian number one Damon Heta 6-2 and Raymond Smith 7-2 to reach the final. Price, who has four World Series titles, said: “I wasn’t great there. I missed a load of doubles, but take nothing away from Jonny – he played brilliantly. To get to a final is a big tap on my back, and I’ll be even better next week in Australia.”
The next stop on the World Series of Darts circuit is the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong next weekend. The season finals will then take place in Amsterdam from 17 to 20 September.
