Jonny Clayton wins his Round of 16 match at the Darts World Championship. This means WM sensation Andreas Harrysson is eliminated.
The fairy tale of debutant Andreas Harrysson is over! On Tuesday afternoon, the Swede narrowly lost his Round of 16 match at the Darts World Championship (from December 11 to January 3 LIVE on SPORT1 ) against world number five, Jonny Clayton, 2:4 in sets.
“I can’t stop shaking,” Clayton explained after the dramatic match on SPORT1 , adding: “An important win – but I don’t need that experience again.”
Andreas Harrysson is eliminated in the Round of 16 at the Darts World Championship
Clayton hints at Premier League participation
“I haven’t been this nervous in a long time. When I looked at the screen, I always saw him hitting the doubles. So at some point, I told myself: ‘Keep your head down’,” Clayton explained at the press conference.
With the win, the Welshman moves up to fourth position in the live ranking, which would mean a guaranteed Premier League spot. “The win means I’m guaranteed £100,000. And I’m temporarily in the world’s top 4. Good things could follow next year, an invitation for example,” Clayton clarified.
And as for the Premier League? “It’s the best tournament, you play against the best players in the world week after week.”
Darts World Championship: Clayton survives four set darts
The turning point of the match was the fifth set. At that point, it was 2:2, and Harrysson initially took a 2:0 lead in legs. However, he then missed the double fields multiple times and squandered a total of four set darts to take the lead again. Clayton was able to capitalize on this to take a 3:2 lead in sets himself.
“The fifth set decided the game,” analyzed SPORT1 expert Max Hopp, adding: “In such a moment, you have to be composed, and a bit of luck is also involved. Clayton has experienced that more often in his career than Harrysson.”
Harrysson climbs the world ranking list
The seventh set also went to a decider, which the Welshman won. This means the World Championship is over for Harrysson, who started the tournament at 114th in the world rankings and has worked his way up to 73rd place thanks to reaching the Round of 16.
Darts World Championship: Clayton faces Schindler’s conqueror on New Year’s Day
For Clayton, it continues on New Year’s Day. There he will face Ryan Searle, who eliminated Martin Schindler earlier in the tournament. The PDC will announce the exact schedule once all Round of 16 matches have been completed.