2022 Masters: Reigning champion Jonny Clayton beats Gerwyn Price to reach semi-finals

Jonny Clayton, Dave Chisnall, Jose de Sousa and Joe Cullen make up the final four

Reigning Masters champion Jonny Clayton keeps his title defence on track as he beat the world number one Gerwyn Price 10-8 in a thrilling quarter-final match in Milton Keynes.

Clayton will play England's Dave Chisnall in the semi-final tonight as he beat Michael Smith 10-8 in their quarter-final match.

On the other side of the draw, Jose de Sousa beat Simon Whitlock 10-9 and will play England's Joe Cullen in the semi-final after he beat Michael van Gerwen 10-7.

St Helens derby

In the first match of the afternoon, two players from St Helens were up against each other.

It was a close battle between the English pair and it was Chisnall, 41, who got onto the scoreboard first, breaking Smith, 31, in the opening and third leg with a 124 checkout.

Chisnall, the 2016 Masters runner-up, took out 91 to win the fourth and went into the first interval with a 3-2 lead.

Both players squandered opportunities to hold their throw and there were three breaks of throw in the next five legs with Chisnall taking out 153 in the ninth leg to break and it was all level at 5-5 at the second interval.

The 13th seed Chisnall made another super checkout, hitting 125 with bull, 25, bull to break again and extend his lead to 7-5, however the recent 2022 world championship runner-up Smith battled back to close the gap to 9-7.

In a tense leg Chisnall missed six match darts at double eight and Smith took advantage to win the leg but was not able to take the match to a deciding leg as Chisnall held his throw with 13 darts to win 10-8 and reach his third Masters semi-final.

Price v Clayton

The second quarter-final was an all-Welsh affair, with the World Cup team-mates facing off for the fifth time on television in the last 12 months.

Clayton, 47, pilled the pressure on early, nearly taking out 170 to break Price in the opening leg but the world number one stayed cool and held his throw.

Price, 36, replied with a break of Clayton's throw and it took until the fourth leg for the reigning Masters champion to get on the scoreboard.

The former world champion Price led 4-1 at the first interval, but the current Premier League champion Clayton, fought his way back with two breaks of throw in the seventh and then the ninth leg with 13 darts to make it level at 5-5.

Clayton took the lead for the first time in the match breaking Price's throw in the 11th leg which he then didn't relinquish, despite a big 147 checkout from Price to hold in the 15th leg.

The Pontyberem native, Clayton, responded with a 13 dart hold of throw to go within a leg of the semi-finals at 9-7 and although Price closed the gap to 9-8, it was the eighth seed Clayton who sealed his spot in the semi-finals in the 18th leg to win 10-8 with a 104 match average.

Portugal v Australia

Australian Simon Whitlock, fresh from knocking out the newly crowned world champion Peter Wright in the second round started strongly against Jose de Sousa, breaking the Portuguese player in the fourth leg.

Whitlock, 52, led 3-2 at the first interval but de Sousa came back to level at 5-5 at the second interval and took the lead for the first time in the match in the 11th leg at 6-5, throwing back-to-back 180s and taking out 82 to break Whitlock's throw with a 12-darter.

The seventh seed de Sousa held his throw with 13 darts and extended his lead to 7-5, however Whitlock battled back to break the 2021 Premier League runner-up de Sousa in the 16th leg to level the match again at 8-8.

The 2010 world championship runner-up Whitlock, held his throw to move within one leg of the semis but it was de Sousa who held his throw in 13 darts to force the match to a deciding leg and although it was Whitlock's throw, de Sousa broke to win 10-9 and reach his first Masters semi-final.

Cullen marches on

In the final match of the afternoon, the triple world champion van Gerwen broke Cullen's throw in the first leg and led 3-2 at the first interval but it was the player from Bradford, Cullen, who responded with a 132 checkout to break van Gerwen and level at 3-3.

The 11th seed Cullen, 32, took the lead in the seventh leg and broke the number three seed, van Gerwen again in the eighth leg with a 116 checkout to lead 5-3.

Dutchman van Gerwen broke back in the 11th leg to level the match at 6-6 but it was Cullen who broke twice to lead and held on to reach his first Masters semi-final.

Semi-finals (19:00)

Jonny Clayton v Dave Chisnall

Jose de Sousa v Joe Cullen

Final to follow

Jonny Clayton/Dave Chisnall v Jose de Sousa/Joe Cullen