"If you want to win these tournaments you've got to beat the best" - Clayton heads to Humphries showdown with no fear

Jonny Clayton kept his hopes of a second overall victory at the World Grand Prix alive on Wednesday night. 'The Ferret' wasn't at his brilliant best in the second round against Ross Smith, but did enough to win 3-1. In the quarterfinals, he will now take on defending champion Luke Humphries.

Clayton agreed afterwards that it was not an easy match. "The way I started the game, I thought I had no chance here tonight," assessed Clayton afterwards. "You have to find something, but it's really difficult when you're playing against a good friend like Ross."

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As mentioned though, the challenges don't get any easier for the Welshman as in the next round he has to take on the defending World Grand Prix champion and world number one, Luke Humphries, who after surviving a matchdart against Stephen Bunting in the opening round, came past Ricardo Pietreczko on Wednesdays night in Leicester.

"I just dug deep and managed to get over the line. It's a massive win for me, and I'm looking forward to playing Luke now," Clayton says with optimism. "He's the best dart player on the planet, but if you want to win these tournaments you've got to beat the best, so if I want to win this, I've got to beat him."

Jonny Clayton in action

Clayton has also now moved up to sixth in the world rankings thanks to this win, making him the Welsh number one for the first time in his career. "I've never been that before so I'm quite proud of that. But it'll be a tough job to stay above of Gerwyn Price (who is ranked 7th)," he admits. "After this tournament it could be different again. But of course I'm going to do everything I can to stay Welsh number one."

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