Gerwyn Price to Face Jonny Clayton in World Grand Prix Quarter-Final

Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton have set up an all-Welsh World Grand Prix quarter-final on Friday in Leicester, after taking very different routes through the second round. Price eased past Ross Smith in straight sets, continuing a run that has yet to cost him a single set in this year’s tournament. Clayton had a far harder night. He dropped the opening set to Wessel Nijman before roaring back to win 3-1, finishing with a 93 average and eight maximums.

Price arrives full of confidence after a season that saw him climb to the PDC’s world number one ranking, a rise we covered in our piece on Price’s recent form surge. Clayton has his own incentive this week. Win the title on Sunday and he becomes Wales’ new world number one, overtaking his good friend and Friday’s opponent in the process.

The Gerwyn Price Jonny Clayton meeting will be the standout tie of the last eight. Both players sit inside the world’s top five, and both know a place in the semi-finals is there for whoever handles the occasion better. Off stage the pair are close. Once the match starts, that friendship counts for nothing.

Detailed First Half Narrative

Price took control from the first leg and rarely let go. The two-time world champion beat Smith in straight sets, a result that keeps intact his record of not dropping a single set anywhere in this year’s World Grand Prix. It is the kind of ruthless, low risk darts that has defined his season, built on steady scoring rather than flashes of brilliance.

Smith never really found a way in. He won the World Series of Darts finals earlier this year, so he arrived with plenty of recent form to draw on. None of it mattered on this occasion. Price closed the door early in the first set and kept it shut for the rest of the match, leaving Smith chasing a response that never came.

There were no twists, no scares and no let-up from Price. He simply out-scored his opponent leg after leg, picking off doubles when they mattered and giving Smith nothing to build momentum on. It was efficient rather than spectacular, but entirely effective.

Price was content to grind the match out rather than chase a flawless scoreline. “It wasn’t a brilliant game, but a win’s a win and I’m still in the tournament,” he said afterwards. It summed up his approach perfectly: find a way to win first, worry about the performance later. That mindset has carried him through every round so far without the loss of a single set, and it will need to hold firm again against a friend who knows his game better than most.

Detailed Second Half Narrative & Drama

Clayton’s night carried far more drama than Price’s. Nijman took the opening set and looked the sharper of the two early on, pushing the Welshman onto the back foot. Clayton needed time to find his rhythm, and for a set and a half it looked like the Dutchman might cause an upset.

Once Clayton found his range, there was no way back for Nijman. His average climbed to 93 and the maximums kept coming, eight in total, as he reeled off the next three sets to close out a 3-1 win. The shift was sudden and total. A player who had looked rattled in the opening exchanges finished the match in complete command of the scoreboard.

Clayton described the turnaround simply. “It felt good up there,” he said, reflecting on a display that leaves him firmly in form heading into Friday’s quarter-final against his countryman.

Reaching the last eight sets up a rivalry Clayton clearly enjoys talking about. “There’s banter between me and Gezzy (Price),” he said, framing it as friendly competition rather than any real needle between the pair. He was quick to point out what it says about Welsh darts at the top of the sport right now. “We have good banter… [we’re] good friends, world number four and five, you can’t fault that from Wales.”

Price has history with Clayton on this stage, and not all of it good. “I remember years ago, Jonny in the final of this tournament absolutely smashed me,” he said, aware that his opponent has the better record between them even as he arrives in Leicester without having dropped a set all week.

There is extra incentive for Clayton beyond settling an old score. Win the title on Sunday and he replaces Price as Wales’ world number one, adding real weight to Friday’s meeting. For now though, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton both know the quarter-final itself is the only game that matters. The winner moves on to face whoever comes through the other side of the draw with a semi-final place at stake.

Friday’s schedule also includes an all-English quarter-final that will carry its own weight. Nathan Aspinall beat Luke Woodhouse in straight sets, and Ryan Joyce did the same against Danny Noppert, setting up their own last-eight meeting in Leicester on the same afternoon. It means the stage in Leicester will host two genuinely compelling ties before the weekend’s business begins.

Our World Grand Prix fantasy coverage has more on the rest of the draw. The official PDC release and the BBC Sport report both carry the wider story from Leicester.

Player Ratings (home side)

Gerwyn Price (7/10): Price did not need to be spectacular to beat Smith in straight sets. His scoring stayed steady rather than eye catching, built on precise finishing rather than raw firepower. The win stretches his run of not losing a set all tournament. Job done without fuss, exactly how he has approached this whole event.

Jonny Clayton (9/10): Clayton survived an early scare, dropping the first set to Nijman, before finding top gear. His 93 average and eight maximums down the stretch settled the contest comfortably in the end. Form like that makes him a serious threat to Price on Friday, their shared history included, and a genuine danger to anyone left in the draw.

Player Ratings (opponent)

Ross Smith (5/10): Smith, this year’s World Series of Darts finals winner, could not match Price’s scoring for long enough to apply real pressure. He lost in straight sets without forcing a single one to a decider, a below par night by his own recent standards against a player in ruthless, controlled form throughout.

Wessel Nijman (6/10): Nijman made Clayton work early, taking the first set before the Welshman’s average climbed into the 90s. Eight maximums from across the match eventually proved too much to live with, and the gap widened quickly once Clayton settled. The 3-1 defeat ends a promising run for the Dutchman in Leicester.

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