Nine-Dart delight for Clayton

Jonny Clayton (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Jonny Clayton landed his first nine-darter in a televised tournament as he won through to the Ladbrokes UK Open quarter-finals on Saturday.

The Welshman achieved the feat in leg 12 of his 10-8 win over Chris Dobey in Saturday evening's sixth round at the Butlin's Minehead Resort, following two 180s with a 141 checkout.

He went on to win the game - despite Dobey's brave fightback from 5-0 down to pull back to 9-8 with finishes of 117 and 104 - to move into the last eight for the first time in the UK Open, where he now challenges for the £100,000 title in Sunday's final stages.

"It's a very special moment for me and I'm chuffed to bits," said Clayton, who defeated Joe Cullen 10-4 earlier on Saturday in round four. "It's my first nine-darter in any tournament, so it's a good feeling.

"I've had a few in practice but only my dog was watching, so to do it in front of a crowd has shown that I can do it."

Clayton is now aiming to claim his maiden televised title on Sunday, and added: "I'm on the big stage tomorrow and I can't wait - my confidence is high. I've done well here before and I'd love to go all the way."

Clayton's nine-darter was the ninth in the history of the UK Open, and the first since Michael van Gerwen achieved the feat in 2016.

It was also the second in a televised event inside a fortnight, following Michael Smith's nine-darter in the Premier League in Dublin, as well as being the 13th in a PDC event so far in 2020.

Ladbrokes UK Open Nine-Darters
2004 - Phil Taylor v Matt Chapman
2005 - Phil Taylor v Roland Scholten
2007 - Phil Taylor v Wes Newton
2008 - Phil Taylor v Jamie Harvey
2010 - Mervyn King v Gary Anderson
2012 - Gary Anderson v Davey Dodds
2013 - Wes Newton v Adrian Lewis
2016 - Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
2020 - Jonny Clayton v Chris Dobey