“I could see in his eyes... ‘I’m going to batter you the next time I play you’” - Jonny Clayton laughs off Luke Littler’s stare after surviving World Grand Prix scare

Jonny Clayton joked that he could already see revenge in Luke Littler’s eyes after ending the world number one’s winning run in Amsterdam, but had a battle of his own to contend with on the opening night of the World Grand Prix.

The former champion edged Krzysztof Ratajski 2–1 in Leicester, recovering from two legs down in the opening set before eventually coming through a tense decider. Afterwards, Clayton was asked how much confidence he could take from his World Series of Darts Finals victory over Littler.

“He was looking at me earlier on, and I could see in his eyes he was going to go, ‘I’m going to batter you the next time I play you.’ I could see it!” Clayton joked in his post-match press conference with DartsNews.com. “All jokes aside, he’s a great kid, a massive asset to darts.”

Clayton beat Littler 10–4 in the Amsterdam quarter-finals. In Leicester, however, his immediate concern had been getting away on a double. “It’s a different game, isn’t it? It’s a double start, double-in, double-out. It’s a totally different game, so my mindset is on trying to hit that first double,” he explained. “Obviously, it’s a great thing to do. Whatever it is, I want to stop his run.”

Clayton added that he hoped to see Littler in the final, although that prospect disappeared later in the evening when Luke Woodhouse knocked out the defending champion.

His own Amsterdam campaign had ended in the semi-finals against Gerwyn Price. Asked about the disappointment of following his win over Littler with defeat, Clayton brought up the opportunity to secure a Grand Slam of Darts place.

“We all go out to win every tournament. I do, but every other player does as well,” he said. “I had a chance to get to that final and get my Grand Slam spot. Little things that hurt, you know?”

“At the end of the day, Gez played better than me, and he won the game. He did his job. I didn’t,” Clayton continued. “That’s the name of the game. That’s darts. But this week is totally different. Double-in, double-out. Like I say, we’re all up there to try to win this as well.”

Ratajski took the first two legs on Monday but missed opportunities to close out the opening set, allowing Clayton to win three straight legs and move ahead. The Welshman then missed a match dart at tops in the second set before Ratajski forced a decider.

“I knew I was going to play against Krzysztof, and Krzysztof never goes away. That’s the player he is. He’s a great player,” Clayton said. “He started off well, but he couldn’t finish, thank God. I think what kept me in the game was my starting as well. He gave me chances, and I took them.”

Clayton eventually got over the line after Ratajski missed five darts to stay in the match, bringing an end to a contest in which neither consistently found his best game.

“I like this tournament, but I struggled up there. It’s hot out there, oh my God,” he admitted. “Especially when things are not going your way. When you’re trying to relax, you start to sweat a little bit more, and it gets hotter. But at the end of the day, I got over the line somehow.”

The 2021 champion also reached the semi-finals last year. Asked whether getting through the opening round would help him settle into this year’s tournament, Clayton replied: “I don’t know. I hope so. I’m going home otherwise!”

“I was given chances there, and I took them. But on my darts, I was starting off great and just couldn’t follow up with the scoring,” he explained. “I always say, if you can battle through a bad game, there’s something about you. It wasn’t my best game. It wasn’t a bad game, but it wasn’t my best game, and I’m glad I got through that.”

Clayton was smiling again in the press room, although he admitted to a few anxious moments on stage. “I’m feeling confident. There’s a smile on my face. I panicked a bit up there, but never mind. I’m back again Wednesday,” he said. “It’s the same when you stand on that walk-on. I get a bit nervous, but as soon as I’m up on the stage, I usually settle. But there, my God, my age showed, and I was a little bit nervous up there.”

Nathan Aspinall had also needed a deciding set to get through his opening match against Kevin Doets. When it was suggested Clayton was developing a similar reputation for scrapping his way through tight contests, he was quick to credit his friend.

“That’s a good thing, but I’m not taking it off Nathan. To be fair, Nathan is probably the best battler in the world of darts,” Clayton said. “He’s a great guy. We’re big friends, and I think I’m in the same kind of place as him because we never give up.”

“You wait for that lucky chance,” he explained. “When somebody misses three darts on, we’ll say, a low score, and then you take out maybe a 92 or a 72, whatever it is, that hurts the other player.”

Asked about the importance of experience in the double-start format, Clayton returned to his previous encounters with Ratajski. “Experience is always good, isn’t it? Whatever tournament or whatever sport you play,” he said. “I’ve played enough times against Krzysztof. I know what he’s about. He’s a great player, a brilliant player, and he’s one of those who will give a million per cent every time he puts a dart in his hand.”

“I wish I could have finished that a little bit earlier, but Krzysztof probably thinks the same because he had loads of chances,” Clayton added. “That’s one in the bag for me, thank God.”

Each of the opening four matches on Monday went to a deciding set. “Best of three is anybody’s,” Clayton said of the first-round format. “I’m glad to get that out of the way, and I’m glad that I won.”

The press conference also brought questions from French journalists about Clayton’s years combining professional darts with his work as a plasterer. “When I was a plasterer, it was still my hobby,” he recalled. “It was totally different because I went to work and then came to play darts. Now it’s full-time darts, and it’s a chance that not many people get. There are thousands of people trying to get where we are, and it’s a good feeling when you do get there.”

“I never thought for one minute that I would get here,” Clayton continued. “I used to watch Phil Taylor, Barney and Michael van Gerwen every Christmas on TV, and I never thought for one minute that I would be on the same stage as those guys.”

As his ranking improved and his calendar filled up, Clayton had to make a decision about his day job. “When I started, I had time to work because I wasn’t up that ladder, getting into everything. Now I’ve climbed the ladder and I’m in everything, I wouldn’t have time to work,” he explained. “You have to start somewhere. I started as a plasterer with darts as a hobby. Then I had to finish the plastering to go full-time in darts.”

“That’s a good thing because if you have to finish your daytime job, you’re doing well, and you’re doing this for a living,” he added. “I don’t think I could go back to plastering.”

Asked what advice he would offer players trying to balance work with their darting ambitions, Clayton said: “I can only speak for myself. I took the chance. I worked for a living, and I played my hobby.

“If you put your mind to it and take that chance, you can become what I have,” he continued. “Darts is now my job and my livelihood. If you can believe, just carry on practising and try your best.”

For Clayton, the next assignment is Wessel Nijman on Wednesday. Asked whether he could draw on his previous World Grand Prix triumph, he returned to the struggle against Ratajski.

“I thought so before I went down to play against Krzysztof, but I think that went out of the window!” he joked. “It was a battle. It was a scrap. Hopefully, I can get back into rhythm in my next game.”

Nijman secured his place with a straight-sets victory over Rob Cross in Monday’s final match. Clayton has already beaten the Dutchman at a major this season, winning their World Masters opener 3–1 in January.