Jones Punishes Poor Welding

WAYNE JONES 5-0 GARY WELDING
(3-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-0, 3-1)

WAYNE JONES moved into the semi-finals of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship with a surprisingly easy 5-0 win over Gary Welding.

The qualifier from Wolverhampton needed less than an hour to see off the challenge of Welding - whose superb run at the Circus Tavern came to a crashing end.

The St Helens thrower produced his worst display of the week and won just two legs throughout the match.

Jones himself failed to produce the scoring he has in victories over James Wade, Andy Jenkins and Steve Alker, but his excellent finishing proved far too deadly for Welding.

He took the first seven legs without reply before Welding landed double ten to hit back.

But he was unable to follow that up as Jones took two more legs to win the third set before extending his lead to 4-0.

Welding managed a 108 finish in the fifth set to keep alive his hopes, but Jones landed double nine to complete a comfortable win.

"I can't believe I won 5-0, but I'll settle for it!" said 40-year-old Jones.

"I've been practising with Gary all morning and he was playing well, but he just didn't turn up on stage.

"I'm surprised because I thought it would be a great game and I expected it to go all the way.

"In the end, I was throwing and waiting for him to hit a big score.

"It's got to be my best finishing average but I'm not happy with my scoring so hopefully I can bring my 'A Game' for the semi-finals.

"I just want to play well now because I know there is more to come from me."

Jones, a widower of four children, is now guaranteed £20,000 as a result of reaching the last four.

"I was delighted just to qualify because I'd won £3,500," he admitted. "I'm not thinking about the money but it does mean we can have a holiday next year."

Match Stats

Gary Welding

0-5

Wayne Jones

16

100+

30

9

140+

15

2

180

-

25.16

Ave1

28.89

75.48

Ave3

86.68