CLINICAL CLAYTON BEATS SMITH    

By Aaron Nijjar  

JONNY CLAYTON beat Michael Smith 10-8 to enter his second UK Open semi-final.  

‘The Ferret’ was clinical on his finishing as he hit three glorious ton plus checkouts of 116, 101 and 106 in the match.  

Victory for Clayton saw the Welshman rise to World No.5 and beat Smith for a fourth consecutive match.  

Reflecting on his win, Clayton revealed he felt added pressure heading into the match. 

He said: “Smile on my face. Obviously verse Michael smith. It’s difficult to play against a man of that calibre. 

“It put pressure on me knowing he isn’t playing as well as he can. I know every time I play him it’ll be a good game.” 

He added: “Today was scrappy, we both threw good scores then followed it up with bad scores but luckily I was able to break him. It was good for me.

“Fingers crossed I get the win tonight and it’s my night.” 

The four-time major winner has had a magnificent start to the year reaching the final of the Winmau World Masters.  

Josh Rock will also be in the semi-final draw after he saw off a brief fightback from Nathan Aspinall to clinch a 10-7 win over the Englishman.  

‘Rocky’ hit eight 180s in the match and averaged a stellar 99.35 to remain unbeaten against ‘The Asp’ in four meetings.  

Following his victory Rock said: “Thankfully I got over the line. I knew 7-3 up it wasn’t over as Nathan has come back from worse.  

“I’ll head to my room and get a shower and new shirt and watch the other games.” 

Image by Kieran Cleeves.