“We want to absolutely batter each other” - Jonny Clayton sets up Gerwyn Price showdown after Wales’ World Cup double act is broken up

Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price have built one of the defining partnerships in World Cup of Darts history, but their next meeting will come from opposite sides of the oche.

Just days before Clayton heads to Frankfurt with Nick Kenny as his new Wales team-mate, he will face Price in the quarter-finals of the Nordic Darts Masters after both Welshmen came through their opening matches in Copenhagen.

Clayton produced the cleaner start of the two. The former Premier League champion whitewashed Andreas Harrysson 6-0 with a 104.86 average, while Price survived a deciding-leg scare against Darius Labanauskas. Their reward is another all-Welsh battle, this time with added context after Price’s withdrawal from Wales’ World Cup line-up brought an end to their latest run as a pair.

“We’re great mates, but we’re great on the stage when we play against each other because it’s a rugby background,” Clayton said after his win. “It’s like friends behind the scenes, but we want to absolutely batter each other on that stage. That’s a rugby background and hopefully I can win that as well.”

Clayton’s own performance left little room for drama. Harrysson had arrived with enough danger to make the first round awkward, but Clayton settled quickly, controlled the match and never allowed the Swede a route back into the contest. “That’s all you ask for,” Clayton said. “I know what Andreas can play like, so yeah, great start. Hopefully we can carry on.”

The result continued a strong recent spell for Clayton, who has looked during the 2026 Premier League Darts season. His mood in Copenhagen matched the level of his darts. “I’m enjoying the game,” he said. “I always say, if there’s a smile on my face, it means I’m enjoying it. I’ve got a big smile on my face and hopefully it carries on for quite a bit again.”

Copenhagen has been a happy stop for Clayton before, and he again spoke warmly about the event after his opening win. The crowd, he said, played its part in helping him find an easy rhythm on stage. “It’s a lovely city,” he said. “Every time we come back here, I enjoy my time here. Like I say, the crowd out there are fantastic. As a player, that’s what you want. You want the crowd to be brilliant, and they are. It puts a good smile on my face.”

The Price meeting arrives at a notable moment for Welsh darts. Clayton and Price have twice won the World Cup together, in 2020 and 2023, and reached the final again in 2025 before losing a last-leg thriller to Northern Ireland.

That partnership will not continue in 2026, with Price absent from the Welsh team and Kenny stepping in alongside Clayton. The shift removes one of the tournament’s most established pairings, but Clayton was keen to underline his confidence in his new partner.

“I played in the same team as Nick Kenny back in the BDO days, so I know what Nick is all about,” Clayton said. “He will play with passion, with pride, and that’s what we Welsh do. When we put our jersey on, we play for our country. I know Nick won’t let me down and I’m going to try not to let him down. I’m looking forward to that.”

Clayton was also clear that Wales’ target does not change, even without Price alongside him. “Not at all,” he said when asked whether the expectation is different compared to playing with Price. “We’re there to win a tournament. Whoever you play with, you’re there to win a tournament and that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

Before that, though, Clayton and Price have their own business to settle in Copenhagen. Their friendship has never softened the competitive edge between them, and Clayton’s “batter each other” line made that clear enough.

Clayton’s Copenhagen win also gave him an immediate response after the end of his Premier League campaign. He admitted there was disappointment after Finals Night, but he did not sound like a player dwelling on it. “There’s nothing you can do about that. It was last week,” he said. “You look ahead, and today I started pretty good. Hopefully it carries on.”

While some Premier League players took the chance for a longer break, Clayton kept things simple. He went home to Wales, then returned to competition at the Pro Tours in Milton Keynes before heading to Denmark. “I didn’t have a massive holiday,” he said. “Obviously I went back home and then I played the Pro Tours in Milton Keynes. It’s back to normal now, back to work.”

That kind of rhythm suits Clayton. With the Premier League finished, he can get back into the events he believes help him most: World Series tournaments, Pro Tours and European Tours.

“Match practice is everything,” he said. “Personally, as a player, and I speak for myself, there’s no better practice than match practice. I’m a lazy get at home. I don’t spend much time on the practice board, so to play in these World Series events and Pro Tours and European Tours, which I’m back on, is going to be massive for the rest of the year.”

Clayton made no secret of his desire to be busy again. The Premier League schedule can force players into difficult choices, but the Welshman now wants to build towards the rest of the year through regular competition.

“Yeah, that’s what I want,” he said. “I want to be in every major. I want to be in everything until Christmas. It’s back to the drawing board. You’re back to playing week in, week out.”

For Clayton, the approach is rooted in the way he was brought up. “It’s my job at the end of the day, and if you don’t go to work, you don’t get paid,” he said. “I’ve been brought up that you work hard, you earn hard, so that’s my motto.”

There will still be room for a proper break later in the year. For now, Clayton said Wales itself had been enough of a reset after a demanding Premier League spell. “I went home to Wales. Sunny Wales. Okay, rainy Wales,” he joked. “I like to be home. One of my best mates, Nigel Owens, used to be one of the best referees in rugby union, and he always used to say, ‘My holidays are when I go home.’ I never understood that, but I do now, because with a busy schedule, it is a nice holiday to go home, see the family and just relax.”

A trip to Spain may come later. First comes Price in Copenhagen, then the World Cup with Kenny, with Clayton already back in the work mode he prefers.