CLAYTON HINTS AT SHOCK RETIREMENT

JONNY CLAYTON has admitted he could walk away from darts if he wins his first World Championship title.

‘The Ferret’ averaged 92.53 and hit three ton-plus checkouts to defeat Adam Lipscombe 3-1 in round one at Ally Pally.

World No5 Clayton has enjoyed a glittering career packed after claiming four major titles and two world cup crowns for Wales.

But the 51-year-old believes lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy at this stage of his career could be the perfect way to bow out of the sport.

He said: “It is work you know. It has always been my hobby, but now it is my full-time job.

“If I don’t put the time into it, I don’t win money. So, to me, that is your job. A hobby has become my job.

“Hopefully it is going to be until I retire. If I win a million this year, then I might retire.

“It might be the end of Jonny Clayton so who knows.”

Clayton capped the triumph with a string of superb finishes, taking out 145, 135 and 100 to wrap up the match in the final set.

Despite the emphatic ending, the Welshman says nerves were still present on the stage after suffering first-round exits in his previous three major tournaments.

He added: “Obviously, it was a great way to finish the game to take that last set with three ton-plus outshots.

“That is a good thing because it means something to you. People say I am not a bad loser; they don’t see it on stage, but fire doors hurt when you punch them in the backroom.

“So, I am a bad loser, but I just don’t show it on stage. If I wasn’t, the game doesn’t mean anything.

“But like I say I have a smile back on my face, I’m hungry, I want this and I know what I can do. Hopefully I can produce it.”

Clayton returns to action on December 20 and will take on Dom Taylor in round at the Worlds.

Image by Taylor Lanning.