Final defeat for Clayton

JONNY Clayton was beaten in the final of the German Darts Championship as Devon Petersen claimed a shock victory.

Pontyberem star Clayton went into the final of the tournament in Heldesheim as a strong favourite. He was ranked 19th in the PDC Order of Merit, 32 places above his opponent.

But Petersen became the first South African to win a PDC title, stunning Clayton 8-3.

The 34-year-old took the early initiative to open up a 4-1 lead, with Clayton unable to claw the deficit back.

Clayton said: “Devon is absolutely class and this is well deserved.

“He’s proved to the darting world that he’s on this map. For myself, this weekend has been brilliant. I’ve enjoyed some good wins and the German crowd were great as always.”

Clayton entered the tournament at the second-round stage where he saw off Chris Dobey 6-4. He then defeated current world champion Peter Wright 6-3 and Dave Chisnall 6-5 before reaching the final with a dominant 7-3 win over Mervyn King,

Petersen’s win in the final was his second triumph of the tournament over a Welshman.

In round two he ended Gerwyn Price’s bid to win a fourth successive PDC tournament, roaring back from a 5-1 deficit to end his rival’s 17-match winning streak.

He then defeated Holland’s Danny Noppert 7-4 in the semi-finals before seeing off Clayton.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Petersen.

“The last two or three years have been the hardest where you are competing against the level of Jonny Clayton and Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright, and you just feel as though you are not going to get there because they are improving all the time.

“I played in the Autumn Series and I lost to Gerwyn Price and I missed three or four darts to win and I just think that spurred me on today.”