Jonny Clayton came through Jose De Sousa on night four of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix.

The Special One defeated The Ferret 3-1 to be the last player into the quarter finals, to in a repeat of his Premier League Final victory over De Sousa in May.

Elsewhere,

  • Ian White produced a stunning comeback to beat Darius Labanauskas
  • Krzysztof Ratajski won against Rob Cross to continue his excellent TV form
  • Danny Noppert defeated Vincent van der Voort in an all Dutch affair
World Grand Prix
Jonny Clayton beat Jose De Sousa to reach the quarter finals of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix. Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Clayton fights back to defeat De Sousa

After both coming through the opening round with whitewash victories, it was Clayton who moved onto the last eight of the tournament in Leicester.

Both players held twice to send the opening set to a decider. There, throwing first, The Ferret struggled to get going. Despite missing five darts to take the leg, De Sousa eventually found double 16 to go 1-0 in front.

However, missed doubles would continue to be a theme for The Special One throughout the match, ending just 6/24 on the outer ring to finish the legs. After both held to start the second set, an excellent 10 dart leg from Clayton secured him the break, before he missed double 10 for a 140 to close the set out. De Sousa found a 98 outshot to break back and set the second set to a decider, but a 70 checkout from the Welshman levelled the match at 1-1.

This seemed to inspire the Welshman to finish the match off. He started the third set with an 18 dart hold, before checkouts of 110 and 100 saw him whitewash the set 3-0 and move 2-1 ahead.

Clayton then found a 116 outshot to start the fourth set and break the De Sousa throw again. Two holds followed, before Clayton deliver a 112 checkout, his fourth ton plus finish of the match, to secure a memorable win.

Diamond delivers in thriller

Following in the footsteps of Dave Chisnall last night, White pulled off a sensational comeback to defeat Labanauskas in another BoyleSports World Grand Prix classic.

White missed a chance to win the opening leg, and Labanauskas punished, taking out 40 to break. This seemed to inspire Lucky D, as a 15 dart hold, followed by a 13 dart break, gave the Lithuanian the first set.

Labanauskas once again punished missed darts at a double from Diamond in the second set. White had one dart to win each of the first two legs, but squandered them both. Back to back tops finishes, followed by another on double 20, doubled the former World Darts Championship quarter finalist’s lead.

However, Diamond would not lie down easily. After three holds in the third set, he found an excellent 12 dart leg against the throw to break Labanauskas and reduce the arrears to 2-1. Inspired by a partisan crowd cheering him on, White then broke in the opening leg of the fourth, before two 16 dart holds got the match level at 2-2.

Lucky D would break in the first leg of the final set, before a stunning 136 from White saw him break straight back and become favourite once more. Both then held, setting up a final leg shootout. In a topsy turvy final leg, a 129 from White set him up on double eight, which he duly took out to complete the fightback, despite Labanauskas actually winning more legs in the contest.

Ratajski rolls on with comfortable Cross victory

Ratajski beat Cross 3-1 in the second match of the night to make the BoyleSports World Grand Prix quarter finals for the first time.

It was The Polish Eagle who came out of the blocks quickest, breaking in 15 darts. An 18 dart hold, followed by a 14 dart break, gave him the opening set, as Voltage did not get a single chance at a double to win a leg.

Roles reversed however in the second set. Ratajski took 11 darts to get into the first leg of it, and despite eventually getting to a finish, Cross hit 87 on the bull to break. A 19 dart hold, followed by a 106 in the next leg, saw the former World Champion whitewash the set and level the match at 1-1.

Cross had a chance to hold at the start of the third, but squandered two darts to do so. Ratajski punished, hitting double eight to break. Back to back 17 darters saw both players hold, before another 17 darter from Ratajski secured him the third set.

Both players held at the start of the fourth set, before The Polish Eagle turned on the gas to end the contest. Back to back 14 darters, the latter on double four, saw him complete the victory.

No problems for Noppert in Dutch derby

Noppert followed up his whitewash victory over Michael van Gerwen in round one with a whitewash victory over Van der Voort. He’s the only player to make the last eight without dropping a set.

The Dutch Destroyer settled quickest, hitting an 85 to break in the opening leg, followed by a 13 dart hold. However, he then missed bullseye for a 130 finish in the fourth leg to close out the set. Noppert, who’d held the previous leg, pounced to hit double six to level, before hitting double 18 in the fifth leg to snatch the first set away from his Dutch rival.

Noppie carried this momentum into the second set. A 130 finish on the bullseye saw him break the Van der Voort, which he followed up with a 101 outshot to hold. Despite The Dutch Destroyer holding, a 62 shot from Noppie gave him a two set lead, winning six of the last seven legs.

A ton outshot featuring two tops won Noppert the first leg of the third set, before Van der Voort held. However, the The Dutch Destroyer missed two darts to break in the third leg, allowing his opponent to hit tops for a 20 dart hold. Despite Van der Voort forcing a deciding leg, he could not stop Noppert from hitting double 11 in it to make the last eight.

BoyleSports World Grand Prix Day Four Results

Ian White 3-2 Darius Labanauskas

Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Rob Cross

Danny Noppert 3-0 Vincent van der Voort

Jonny Clayton 3-1 Jose De Sousa

BoyleSports World Grand Prix Day Five Schedule of Play

4x Quarter Finals

Danny Noppert v Ian White

Krzysztof Ratajski v Jonny Clayton

Gerwyn Price v Dave Chisnall

Stephen Bunting v Ryan Searle