Jamie Lewis

Jamie Lewis (born 8 November 1991) is a Welsh professional darts player.

Jamie Lewis
Personal information
Nickname"Fireball"
Born (1991-11-08) 8 November 1991
Carmarthen, Wales
Home townCarmarthen, Wales[1]
Darts information
Playing darts since1999
DartsRed Dragon
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Fireball" by Pitbull ft. John Ryan
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2009–2011
PDC2011–
Current world ranking78 15 (3 January 2021)[2]
BDO majors – best performances
World MastersLast 24: 2010
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipSemi Final: 2018
World MatchplayLast 16: 2015
World Grand PrixQuarter Final: 2015
UK OpenLast 16: 2014
Players Ch'ship FinalsLast 16: 2015
Other tournament wins
PDC Challenge Tour England 2013
PDC Development Tour England 2015
PDC Youth Tour England 2012
PDC Youth Tour Germany 2012
WDF World Youth Cup 2009
Wales Classic 2010
World Youth Masters 2009
Other achievements
2015 Breaks into the world's top 32 for the first time

Career

Lewis won the World Masters and WDF World Cup boys' events in 2009.[3]

Lewis reached the last 24 of the 2010 World Masters, losing 2–3 in sets to Ted Hankey. He also reached the semi-finals of the 2011 WDF World Cup, losing out to Martin Adams 3–6.[4]

In January 2012, then-20-year-old Lewis successfully earned a Professional Darts Corporation tour card on day four of the PDC Pro Tour Q School. This enabled him to participate in all 2012 and 2013 Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events.[5] Lewis competed in his first UK Open in 2012, defeating Steve Farmer and Mark Stephenson before falling to Pete Hudson in the second round.[6] In August, Lewis beat John Scott and Michael Barnard in the UK Qualifier for the fourth European Tour event of the year, the German Darts Masters,[7] but then lost 3–6 to Richie Burnett in the first round in Stuttgart, Germany.[8] He also still competed, and won twice, on the 2012 Youth Tour.[9]

Lewis finished fourth on the 2012 Youth Tour Order of Merit, but was the highest player who had not already qualified for the 2013 World Championship.[10][11] In Lewis' first appearance in the tournament he lost to the Philippines Lourence Ilagan in the preliminary round by four legs to three, despite leading 3–1.[12] He was ranked world number 68 after the event.[13] At the UK Open, Lewis lost 5–3 to Tony West in the preliminary round.[14]

Lewis reached his first final on the main tour at the Gibraltar Darts Trophy. He beat Colin Osborne 6–4, Robert Thornton 6–5, Steve Brown 6–0, Kevin Painter 6–5 and two-time world champion Adrian Lewis 6–5.[15] His match against Lewis guaranteed him a spot in the World Matchplay for the first time and Lewis stated that that match was his final. In the final itself he was defeated 6–1 by 16-time world champion Phil Taylor.[16] He played Painter in the first round of the World Matchplay and was defeated 10–7.[17] His best results in the rest of the year were in two Players Championships where he lost in the quarter-finals to Mensur Suljović and Jamie Robinson.[18] His performances over the year saw him finish 32nd on the ProTour Order of Merit to claim the final spot in the Players Championship Finals.[19] In Lewis' debut in the event he faced top seed Michael van Gerwen in the first round and lost 6–1.[20]

2014

His ProTour ranking saw him qualify for the 2014 World Championship by claiming the third of sixteen spots that were available to players outside the top 32 on the main Order of Merit.[21] Lewis played Raymond van Barneveld in the first round and was beaten 3–0, losing each set by three legs to one as he hit only three of his fourteen darts at a double.[22] Lewis had risen 28 places during the year to be ranked world number 40.[23]

In February 2014, Lewis reached the second Pro Tour final of his career by averaging 108.07 in defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 6–4 in the semi-finals of the fourth UK Open Qualifier, but he could not replicate the performance in the final as he was beaten 6–1 by Brendan Dolan.[24] He advanced to the fifth round of the UK Open for the first time a month later but was beaten 9–5 by Mensur Suljović.[25] During the rest of the campaign, Lewis was beaten in the last 16 of three Players Championships and qualified for three European Tour events, but could not get past the second round.[26]

2015

Lewis had taken out finishes of 141 and 125 to be 1–1 against James Wade in the first round of the 2015 World Championship. He won the first leg of the third set, but then lost six legs in a row to be knocked out 3–1.[27] His first semi-final appearance in over a year came at the Gibraltar Darts Trophy where he was beaten 6–1 by Michael van Gerwen.[28] Lewis was now the number two Welsh player on the Order of Merit behind Mark Webster and they teamed up at the World Cup, but suffered a surprise 5–3 loss to Hong Kong in the first round.[29] He defeated Justin Pipe 10–7 at the World Matchplay, before losing 13–2 to Michael van Gerwen in the second round.[30] He threw the first nine-dart finish of his PDC career at the 17th Players Championship.[31]

At the World Grand Prix, Lewis survived two match darts from William O'Connor to edge past him 2–1 in the first round and then came from 2–0 down in sets against Michael Smith to win 3–2.[32][33] In his first major event quarter-final he was defeated 3–0 by Van Gerwen.[34] Robert Thornton missed one match dart in the first round of their Players Championship Finals to allow Lewis to win 6–5.[35] He led Dave Chisnall 8–6 in the second round, but lost four legs on the trot, missing three darts to force a deciding leg in the final leg.[36]

2016

Lewis lost 3–1 to Daryl Gurney in the first round of the 2016 World Championship.[37] In the second UK Open Qualifier, Lewis reached the semi-finals and was narrowly beaten 6–5 by Alan Norris.[38] This gave him entry in to the third round of the main event and Stephen Bunting hit legs of 12 and 11 darts to move from 8–7 down to win 9–8.[39] In the penultimate Players Championship event, Lewis eliminated the likes of Benito van de Pas and Robert Thornton to play in the quarter-finals, where he lost 6–5 to Simon Whitlock.[40] He recorded a 6–4 win over Jamie Caven in the opening round of the Players Championship Finals, before being knocked out 6–4 by Dave Chisnall.[41]

2017

Lewis won a match at the World Championship at the fifth time of asking when he edged past Mick McGowan 3–2.[42] He was knocked out by Peter Wright in the second round with a score of 4-0.[43]

2018

Lewis failed to qualify for the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship via the Order of Merit, saying on Twitter that he was really disappointed in himself for his failure to qualify.[44] However, he finished third at the PDPA Qualifier in Milton Keynes, winning a place in the preliminary round.[45] After defeating Kenny Neyens in the preliminary round, and compatriot Jonny Clayton in the first round, he defeated world number two Peter Wright in the second round,[46] before knocking out James Richardson[47] to qualify for the quarter final.

In the quarter-final, Lewis whitewashed Darren Webster. In defeating Richardson and Webster, he became the first player to qualify for a quarter-final, and subsequently a semi-final, after starting in the preliminary round.[44] In the semi-finals, Jamie went out 1–6 to Phil Taylor.

2019

Lewis qualified for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship via the Order of Merit and he was seeded as 28th directly into the second round. There he faced Cody Harris, with whom he was leading 2-0, but the match went into the deciding set after Harris' comeback. In the deciding set, Lewis whitewashed the opponent and advanced into the third round. He faced the fifth seed, Daryl Gurney, and again Lewis led comfortably 1-3 on sets, and yet again the match went into the decider. Lewis won the deciding, seventh set, 2-4 and second year in a row placed among top 16 players. In the fourth round he lost to Dave Chisnall without winning a set, 0-4.[48]

For 2019 UK Open Lewis was seeded into the fourth round and faced Adrian Lewis and defeated him in the deciding leg 9-10. In the fifth round Lewis lost 7-10 to Josh Payne.

Lewis struggled throughout the rest of the season, did not qualify for any other major tournaments or European Tour events. In Players Championship tournaments he was able to win just £7,000 during the whole year and ended up ranked very low in Pro Tour Order of Merit.

2020

Close to the cut-off for 2020 PDC World Darts Championship he slipped out of top 32 and subsequently did not qualify for the event. He was not able to defend the prize money from the semifinal two years ago and slipped down to 57th place in PDC Order of Merit. It was still enough to maintain his Tour card.

Lewis was seeded into the third round of 2020 UK Open and won over Ross Smith in the deciding leg 6-5. In the fourth round he faced Mensur Suljovic and lost 4-10.

Although the season was influenced by the outbreak of Covid-19, Lewis again struggled and did not qualify for any other major tournament. He qualified for 2020 International Darts Open, but lost in the first round 0-6 to Robert Marijanovic, scoring the three dart average of only 57.72.

In September, Lewis announced that he was stepping away from the darts to focus on his private life.[1] It was not disclosed at the time whether or not he intended to surrender his PDC Tour Card.

In October, after losing in the European Tour event, Lewis revealed that he was suffering with anxiety disorder.

Despite this statement, he played the UK Qualifier for the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship and after defeating Robert Thornton in the deciding match, he became one of the six players who secured their spot in the World Championship.[49]

World Championship results

PDC

Performance timeline
Tournament2012201320142015201620172018201920202021
PDC World Championship DNQ Prel. 1R 1R 1R 2R SF 4R DNQ 2R
UK Open 2R Prel. 5R DNQ 3R 2R 3R 5R 4R
World Matchplay DNQ 1R DNQ 2R Did not qualify
World Grand Prix Did not qualify QF Did not qualify
Players Championship Finals DNQ 1R DNQ 2R 2R DNQ 1R DNQ
Non-major televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts Did not qualify 1R Did not qualify
World Series of Darts Finals Not held 2R DNQ QF DNQ
Career statistics
Year-end ranking 61 41 37 30 31 30 26 57 63
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded L# lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament

References
  1. "'Bad habits' force world darts star Jamie Lewis to take break". Tivyside Advertiser. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. "PDC Order of Merit". PDC.tv. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. "Darts champ, 17, joins top flight". BBC. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  4. "2011 WDF Results". Dartsdatabase. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  5. "Qualifying School - Day Four". PDC.tv. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. "Speedy Services UK Open Day One". PDC.tv. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  7. "2012 PDC European Tour Stuttgart UK Qualifier Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  8. "German Darts Masters - Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  9. "Jamie Lewis 2012". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  10. "Final Youth Tour Order of Merit". PDC. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  11. "2013 PDC World Championship Qualifiers". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  12. "Ladbrokes WDC Day Five". PDC. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  13. "Order of Merit on 1 January 2013". PDC. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  14. "Speedy Services UK Open - Thursday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  15. "2013 PDC Gibraltar Darts Trophy Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  16. "Super Taylor Wins Gibraltar Darts Trophy". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  17. "BetVictor World Matchplay Day Two". PDC. 21 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013.
  18. "Jamie Lewis 2013". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  19. "ProTour Order of Merit". PDC. Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  20. "Cash Converters PCF First Round". PDC. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  21. "2014 PDC World Championship Qualifiers". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  22. "Ladbrokes World Championship Day Three". PDC. 15 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
  23. "Order of Merit on 2 January 2014". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  24. "Dolan Takes Qualifier Four In Wigan". PDC. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  25. "Coral UK Open - Saturday Evening". PDC. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  26. "Jamie Lewis 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  27. "William Hill World Championship Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  28. "Rock Solid van Gerwen's Gibraltar Glory". PDC. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  29. "bwin World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  30. "2015 World Matchplay Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  31. "Dublin Delight For Diamond". PDC. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  32. "partypoker.com World Grand Prix - Sunday". PDC. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  33. "partypoker.com World Grand Prix - Tuesday". PDC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  34. "Michael van Gerwen and Robert Thornton on course at World Darts Grand Prix". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  35. "Cash Converters PCF - Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  36. "Cash Converters PCF - Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  37. "William Hill World Championship Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  38. "Super van Gerwen Wins In Wigan". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  39. "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  40. "Nine-Dart Whitlock Enjoys Further Success". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  41. "2016 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  42. "William Hill World Championship Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  43. "William Hill World Darts Championship Day 11". PDC. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  44. Walters, Mike. "Jamie Lewis makes darts history at Ally Pally in 5-0 destruction of 'Demolition Man' Darren Webster". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  45. Allen, Dave. "Evetts, Dolan & Lewis Qualify". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  46. "PDC World Darts 2018: Peter Wright out after losing to Jamie Lewis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  47. Higham, Paul. "William Hill World Darts Championship Day 12". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  48. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/darts/46660249
  49. https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/12147267/jamie-lewis-headlines-list-of-six-players-to-secure-last-ditch-world-championship-qualification
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