Jonny Clayton beat young talent Niko Springer 8-6 to be crowned the winner of the Elten Safety Shoes Dutch Darts Championship 2025.
Victory gave fourth seed Clayton his third Euro Tour title as he beat Danny Noppert and world No 1 Luke Humphries on the way to his triumph.
Meanwhile, it was a display to remember for Springer on his first year on the PDC senior circuit.
“It is a great feeling. Niko is an excellent player,” Clayton told PDC TV.
“I managed to come back, get ahead, and stay ahead. We get some money on the rankings and go again.
“I just had to try and catch him up because he was running away big time. I started to score a bit better where Niko missed one or two legs.
“I am just glad to get over the line.”
The final was a topsy-turvy affair, Springer racing into a 3-0 lead with 12-dart, 13-dart, and 15-dart legs.
However, Clayton showed his experience and class to work from a 5-2 deficit to a 7-5 lead, clinching his 17th PDC title on D2 after taking six legs on the bounce.
It was an emphatic display by Clayton in his semi-final tussle against Humphries, ‘The Ferret’ racing into a 3-0 lead before being pegged back by Humphries as he brought the game to 3-3.
The Welshman’s power-scoring helped him stay on top throughout and after getting eight darts into a nine-darter in the 10th leg, he took two massive legs on the spin, wrapping up the contest on D4.
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Luke Humphries attempts to hit a 120 finish but busts, only to get another shot after Luke Littler fails to checkout, returning to the oche to finish the job.
Clayton started his night by showing nerves of steel to hold off a Danny Noppert fightback and silence the partisan Dutch crowd in a 6-4 quarters victory, a 106 average, 141 checkout, and incredible maximum hitting getting him over the line despite Noppert’s resurgence from 4-1 down.
For Humphries, his focus will now turn to the Premier League Darts Finals Night on Thursday, live on Sky Sports, ‘Cool Hand’ the only of the four finalists to head to Rosmalen, a decision which did not end with his eighth Euro Tour title.
Unlike his frustrated display against Clayton, Humphries had started his evening with a dominant 6-3 win over William O’Connor, firing a 108.73 average in his quarter-final against Gerwyn Price’s late replacement.
Springer shows he is a star for the future
With a new Euro Tour finalist guaranteed from the semi-final between the 2024 Development Tour leaders Wessel Nijman and Springer, it was the German who was in fierce form as he raced into a 4-0 lead.
Dutchman Nijman had the Rosmalen crowd firmly behind him as he fought back to 4-3, but with a raft of noise behind him Springer stayed calm, broke the throw, and took three legs in a row for a huge win, missing only one double throughout the entire semi-final.
In an all-German quarter-final affair, Springer blitzed Ricardo Pietreczko for a 6-2 win, hitting 180s for fun with a 107 average.
Earlier, Nijman booked his spot in his first Euro Tour semi-final with a 6-1 domination of Ryan Searle.
Searle was playing well but was given no room to manoeuvre by the Dutchman, who had the home crowd’s hopes on his shoulders, a 121 checkout on the bull the highlight in an emphatic display of finishing.
Sunday’s results
Afternoon Session
- Luke Humphries 6-0 Michael Smith
- William O’Connor 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
- Jonny Clayton 6-5 Ross Smith
- Danny Noppert 6-5 Damon Heta
- Ryan Searle 6-0 Mickey Mansell
- Wessel Nijman 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Niko Springer 6-2 Martin Schindler
- Daryl Gurney 5-6 Ricardo Pietreczko
Evening Session
Quarter-Finals
- Luke Humphries 6-3 William O’Connor
- Jonny Clayton 6-4 Danny Noppert
- Ryan Searle 1-6 Wessel Nijman
- Niko Springer 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Semi-Finals
- Luke Humphries 5-7 Jonny Clayton
- Wessel Nijman 3-7 Niko Springer
Final
- Jonny Clayton 8-6 Niko Springer
Where does the Premier League head next?
Premier League Darts Play-Offs take place on Thursday night at London’s O2 Arena
The Premier League concludes at the O2 Arena, London on Thursday May 29 as table-topping Luke Littler takes on Gerwyn Price and then Luke Humphries takes on Nathan Aspinall in the other semi-final. Watch Finals Night of Premier League Darts, in London, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 7pm – stream with NOW.
Sky Sports will once again be the home of the Premier League in 2025, with every night exclusively live along with the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW
