“Thank God I’m in the Grand Slam!” - Jonny Clayton seals last-gasp qualification with Luke Humphries scalp in Basel
PDC
Jonny Clayton could finally celebrate his place at the Grand Slam of Darts after beating Luke Humphries to win the Swiss Darts Trophy. The Welshman’s 8-4 victory in Basel brought his first ranking title of 2026 and secured the qualification opportunity he had openly regretted missing in Amsterdam.
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“I’m over the moon with this,” Clayton said in his on-stage interview after the final. “It was a great game to be involved in. If you want to lift these trophies, you have to beat people like Luke.”
Clayton had beaten Luke Littler in the World Series of Darts Finals quarter-finals before losing to Gerwyn Price in the last four. Speaking in his subsequent World Grand Prix press conference with DartsNews, he admitted: “I had a chance to get to that final and get my Grand Slam spot. Little things that hurt, you know?”
In Basel, he finished the job. Having beaten Karel Sedlacek and Gian van Veen earlier in the evening, Clayton won four consecutive legs from 4-4 against Humphries to lift his first ranking trophy since May 2025.
Clayton took his first ranking title of 2026
Clayton full of praise for beaten Humphries
Humphries arrived in the final after averaging 111.17 against Mensur Suljovic, and the recent World Grand Prix champion threatened to break Clayton’s throw repeatedly during the early exchanges.
Clayton held firm, including an 11-darter after Humphries had opened the fifth leg with six perfect darts. The first break eventually went the Welshman’s way for 6-4, and he closed out victory with a 12-darter and a 46 finish.
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“It’s always good to win a trophy. To do it against a man like this, I can’t speak any more words,” Clayton said. “He’s absolutely fantastic, a good friend, and what a player. He’s played amazing this weekend and I think I’ve done alright this weekend. Thank God I’m in the Grand Slam!”
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Clayton averaged 101.68 to Humphries’ 101.75, but converted approximately 62% of his doubles against the Englishman’s 22%.
Alongside his Grand Slam place, Clayton’s fourth European Tour title moved him level with Phil Taylor and Nathan Aspinall. The £35,000 winner’s cheque also took him back above James Wade to world number five.
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- The players who deliberately slow the game down are usually boring and win very little in the way of silverware. Horrible to watch.MrYnyslas197112-10-2026
- [“The Gentle” then used a sweeping and questionable phrase...] You anglocucks are hilariously finished in every sense of the word.Critical99911-10-2026
- I love Jonny but I disagree. The Grand Slam was always supposed to be "champion of champions" type competition. If the top 16 are guaranteed participation in everything there will be so much less jeopardy involved in qualifying and each major tournament will lose its unique flavour which the PDC has worked hard trying to develop. I enjoy following the qualification races towards the end of the year, and while consistency should have its rewards, the truth is Jonny hasn't reached a major final all year or won a single event on the Pro Tour. Being consistent is one thing, but that alone should have consequences as the sport's elite should not be prepared to accept consistently strong performances, their foremost motivation should be to win and this should be what separates them from the rest, not the consistency of their performances. Jonny is expecting that losing should be enough; it shouldn't be, at least not as far as the Grand Slam is concerned.Deduce635811-10-2026
- Well being honest,it doesn't matter what level you play at, there's always someone who slows it down to suit themselves,and extra swig of water, replacing flights, asking the ref what the score is. It happens wherever. I'm not saying it's professional,but I'm sure we've all seen it beforerick6711-10-2026
- Agree completely. Not sure how a ranking event can have a criteria not based on rankings. And he right on popularity. In the UK second only to football.BandB11-10-2026
- Doesn't matter who's in it,it's boringrick6710-10-2026
- Assuming you qualify as one of the "muppets" in question. Classist too. And since you're so clearly interested in academia, look up "linguistic descriptivism" while you're at it. Oh, and better stay away from the working class sport of darts and maybe offer your insightful analysis to, let's say, croquet instead?Deduce635806-10-2026
- The consequences of being uneducated and grammatically challenged. "To all THOSE muppets not THEM " Everytime I see Arsepinall, I have an image of him wearing a cap, standing behind the counter of a fast food establishment.richieburnettrocks05-10-2026
- I don't understand Littler's reason for playing this tournament.rick6705-10-2026
- James Wade has become James Wide. He has piled on the tonnage considerably, he barely fits in his shirt.richieburnettrocks03-10-2026
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