Searle mentally ‘ready’ for Clayton clash at Alexandra Palace

Ryan Searle believes he’s now got the mentality to challenge for the sport’s biggest prizes, as he prepares to take on Jonny Clayton in the Paddy Power World Darts Championship quarter-finals on Thursday.

Searle is featuring in the last eight at Alexandra Palace for the first time, and is yet to drop a single set in the four matches he’s played.

However, the man nicknamed ‘Heavy Metal’ is set to be tested in his next affair, as he faces world number five Clayton.

Searle was in a rampant mood in the last 16, sealing an emphatic 4-0 victory over James Hurrell, while pinning 50% of his attempts at double in the process.

The 38-year-old has also seen off Chris Landman, Brendan Dolan and Martin Schindler in reaching the quarter-finals, before demolishing Hurrell, who himself dumped out fourth seed Stephen Bunting in the round prior.

In seven previous appearances at Alexandra Palace, Searle has reached at least round three every year, but the disappointment of not going deeper into the big tournaments had weighed him down.

“I feel like I am a massive underachiever as far as majors are concerned,” conceded Searle, who would break into the world’s top ten with victory over Clayton.

“On the other hand, when you look at the draws that I’ve had, I played [Luke] Littler in the World Matchplay, [Gerwyn] Price in the World Grand Prix and [Nathan] Aspinall in the World Grand Prix the year before.

“It has been a bitter pill to swallow, but now I have got a bit more of a stronger mentality and I am ready for bigger matches.”

Searle has enjoyed a strong 2025 campaign, winning two Players Championship titles to elevate his career total to seven, and now he has further silverware in his sights.

Whilst a whitewash scoreline will be difficult to replicate again, Searle is relishing the opportunity to elongate his best return at the World Championship.

“To not lose a set is great, and I just try to rely on myself to play well,” added the 2021 Players Championship Finals runner-up.

“All you hope for as a darts player is to get on the stage and produce the darts you are playing on the practice board.”

Whilst attempting to abstain from looking too far ahead, Searle could not help but hypothesise about a potential final against either Gary Anderson or Luke Humphries, both of whom the Devon-born star is close with.

“I think it would be good if me and Gary play each other in the final, just because we practice together,” quipped Searle.

“It would have to be different from our practice sessions because he hammers me!

“Whoever it is, it would be cool, but like I say, I can’t look any further than our next game and we look forward to it.”