Need to know
Jonny Clayton was supposed to be competing in the second round of the World Darts Championship – here is why the Ferret will not be playing this evening
Why is Jonny Clayton not playing at Alexandra Palace this evening?
- Jonny Clayton is not appearing at Alexandra Palace tonight because his second-round opponent, Dom Taylor, has been disqualified from the tournament.
- This decision follows an announcement from the Darts Regulation Authority that Taylor returned an adverse analytical finding from a drugs test conducted on 14 December.
- It was the second time Taylor has failed a drugs test, having been banned for a month by the Darts Regulation Authority in January, following a drugs test in November 2024..
- As a result of this immediate suspension, their scheduled match for this Saturday evening was cancelled and removed from the programme. The rules dictate that Clayton receives a bye into the third round, meaning he does not have to throw a single dart to progress.
- Having received a bye into the third round, Clayton’s potential path through the tournament is now taking shape. His next match will be against the winner of the second-round clash between 2023 World Champion Michael Smith and Niels Zonneveld of the Netherlands.
- He is from Pontyberem, a village in Wales. He has established himself as one of the elite players in the sport, boasting an incredible trophy cabinet.
- His major televised honours include winning the Premier League Darts, the World Grand Prix, the Masters and the World Series of Darts Finals, all of which he remarkably secured in 2021. Furthermore, he is a two-time PDC World Cup of Darts champion, having won the title for Wales alongside Gerwyn Price in both 2020 and 2023
- TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DOM TAYLOR’S FAILED DRUGS TEST READ THE FULL STORY HERE
