Battling Wayne Jones out of the Grand Slam
Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones went out of the Grand Slam of Darts in his hometown tonight after a third successive 5-3 defeat.
The result of Michael Smith's clash with Andy Fordham in the evening's other Group C game proved irrelevant for Jones, writes Craig Birch.
But 'the Wanderer' put in his best performance of the tournament at so far, live on Sky Sports, as he tried to forge an unlikely route through.
He was cheered on by a noisy home audience at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, which echoed with chants of 'there's only Wayne Jones.'
And the Wednesfield thrower got them going when he led 1-0 on tops, but missing double eight in the next leg allowed Lewis to step in and take out 40.
Jones fluffed double four for 61 in the third leg, with Lewis building on his 140 during his previous visit to take the lead on the same bed.
'Jackpot' notched the game's first 180 in the fourth leg, but Jones silenced him by erasing 52 to level. Tops again then put Lewis back in front.
A timely 96 outshot then put the two-time world champion in command, but Jones' 106 checkout on tops kept the game alive.
There was no coming back from 70 on tops, as Lewis booked his place in the second round. Jones needed a 5-2 victory to even have a chance of qualifying.
He did record a tournament-best average of 93.77 for the match, with Lewis on 96.30.
