Jonny Clayton was left furious after a fan shouted out when he was throwing in the final leg of his defeat to Luke Humphries. The Welshman was denied a place in the Premier League final in heartbreaking fashion, suffering a narrow 10-9 defeat in the last-four showdown. He looked down and out as Humphries took control early on before mounting an incredible comeback to force a last-leg decider.
Clayton was handed the opportunity to win the match when Humphries failed to take out 121, with Cool Hand grimacing after missing an effort at bull. It left the former needing to secure a 62 checkout to win the match and after two darts, he was left with one shot at D16. Unfortunately for Clayton, he narrowly missed the target, giving Humphries another chance to seal victory.
Immediately after his missed attempt, Clayton turned his head towards the crowd and flashed a furious glare, seemingly because a fan had shouted out or whistled as he was throwing.
Sky Sports commentator Rod Studd said: “He looks to his right but Humphries gets another go! I think someone shouted out, you know. Yeah, someone shouted out.”
The crowd began to boo loudly as Humphries returned to the oche and finished the job, taking out 25 to book his place in the Premier League final against Luke Littler.
It was a heartbreaking end to the night for Clayton, who led the way for much of the Premier League campaign only to fall at the penultimate hurdle.
Reflecting on the match, pundit Stuart Pyke said: “Clayton’s upset because of the shout-out, there’s no doubt there, but you can’t blame him. There’s smiles for the defending champion, who won the last three legs.”
Mark Webster, meanwhile, added: “Humphries had darts for 7-2 and he looked confident while everything seemed hard work for Jonny.
“But Jonny got to the break at 6-4, which he needed to do, as if he hadn’t I thought the game was done.
“There were mistakes from Humphries but he found a way to get over the line and that’s what champions do: get out of sticky situations. Jonny will be feeling raw, but he will be proud of his efforts looking back.”