“That’s back-to-back wins now and hopefully I can go to Sheffield now and win four [for the season]. I did my job.”
Clayton’s run to the final moved him back into the top four in the race for Play-Off spots, as he defeated Peter Wright and Chris Dobey to ensure that a clash with Aspinall in Aberdeen is a shoot-out for a semi-final berth.
The 2021 Premier League champion took out 102 in the deciding leg of his quarter-final, and led throughout as he emerged a 6-3 winner over Masters champion Dobey in the semis
Van Gerwen ended a run of five successive defeats against Price with a superb 6-2 win in a high-quality quarter-final, with both players averaging over 103 and the Dutchman landing six doubles from ten attempts.
Defeats in the quarter-finals for both Wright and Van den Bergh saw their feint hopes of being able to qualify for the Play-Offs ended, as both relinquished a 2-0 lead before losing out to Clayton and Dobey respectively.
Dobey also cannot now reach the Play-Offs in his debut season, sitting ten points adrift of the top four with two league nights remaining with Clayton and Aspinall certain to meet on Night 16 in Aberdeen.
The penultimate league night of the season will be held on Thursday May 11 at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena, where Smith and Van Gerwen will meet again in a huge quarter-final contest.
League leader Price faces Aspinall, while Clayton plays Van den Bergh and Dobey takes on Wright.
The 2023 Cazoo Premier League will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN, Viaplay and VTM, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.
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Night 14 – Thursday May 4
AO Arena, Manchester
Quarter-Finals
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Peter Wright
Chris Dobey 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Michael Smith 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Semi-Finals
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Chris Dobey
Michael Smith 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Final
Michael Smith 6-3 Jonny Clayton