Jonny Clayton clinched his third PDC title, and first of 2019, after beating Gabriel Clemens 8-4 in the final of Players Championship 10, in Barnsley.

The Welshman, who is now up to a career-high of 13th on the PDC Order of Merit, picked up his third title in as many years, following on from a maiden Players Championship success in 2017, and his Austrian Darts Open victory last year.

Clayton’s route to the title began with a scare, as he survived a match dart in a 6-5 win over Northern Ireland’s Nathan Rafferty in the first round.

It would be the first of three last-leg deciders Clayton would have to come through on his way to scooping the £10,000 prize, as after beating Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 in the last 64, he squeezed past Vincent van der Voort in an 11th leg, averaging 102.

Another 100+ average in the last 16 saw Clayton see off Marko Kantele 6-2, before getting the better of Jermaine Wattimena in a decider to reach a second semi-final of the season.

Clayton then averaged 99 in a 7-2 victory against Ian White in the last four, before a 103 average helped him defeat Germany’s Clemens 8-4 in the final.

“I’m enjoying playing against the best players in the world, and hopefully I can win a few more titles this year,” Clayton said.

“I had a dodgy start today, I got through a tough game with Nathan Rafferty who played really well and from there I started to relax.

“I’m chuffed to have won that final because Gabriel is a very good player and it won’t be long before he’s in the top 32 or top 16 of the world.”

Elsewhere, Saturday’s winner James Wade was knocked out in the first round by Jose Justicia, while Peter Wright, Mensur Suljovic and Corey Cadby also bowed out in the last 128.

Justicia went on to reach a maiden Players Championship quarter-final, while Poland’s Tytus Kanik enjoyed a run to a first PDC semi-final. Arron Monk also had a good weekend, with his run to the last 16 on Saturday followed by a first quarter-final appearance on the ProTour for almost seven years on Sunday.

Players Championship 10 Stats

Highest Tournament Averages
101.60 – Willie O’Connor (lost in the first round)
101.38 – Alan Norris (lost in the first round)
100.25 – Madars Razma (lost in the second round)
98.76 – Steve Beaton (lost in the third round)
97.49 – Adrian Lewis (lost in the third round)

Highest Individual Match Averages
108.5 – Kyle Anderson (6-1 vs Willie O’Connor, first round)
106.9 – Ted Evetts (6-4 vs Dawson Murschell, first round)
106.6 – John Henderson (6-1 vs Harry Ward, first round)
106.1 – Luke Woodhouse (6-0 vs Adam Hunt, first round)
103.6 – Ian White (6-1 vs Nathan Derry, second round)

Most 180s
24 – Gabriel Clemens
23 – Jonny Clayton
17 – Mervyn King
14 – Ian White
11 – Keegan Brown

Highest Checkout Percentages
60% – Ron Meulenkamp (9/15)
57% – Dawson Murschell (4/7)
52% – Steve Beaton (14/27)
50% – John Henderson (23/46)
50% – Robert Thornton (10/20)

Stats courtesy of DartConnect