Jamie Hughes loses a Grand Slam thriller

Hughes had Wolverhampton Civic Hall rocking as he came from 9-5 down to level the scores before a last leg second round shootout, writes Craig Birch.

He missed five match darts, including a no score visit during a last-gasp shootout for 24, to allow Chris Dobey back in to settle matters with his first attempt at 24.

The Black Country thrower played his part in a thriller at the Civic, him starting with the throw after winning the bullseye in the practice room beforehand.

He got down to 101 and landed treble 20 and single nine, missing double 16 to break the deadlock. He missed the same bed upon his return and double eight, but got double four.

Dobey came back with the darts and levelled with double 16 at the second attempt, before breaking the throw in the third leg.

Hughes could only land single 20s around 16 and then missed another three at double 10, Dobey stepping in on tops with his first dart to come from behind and lead.

'Yozza' battled with his first 180 at the start of leg four, which Dobey answered back with a maximum of his own. Hughes erased 82 with treble 19 and double 14 to break back.

Dobey missed six darts to break again before getting the job done in the leg five, two at tops before landing a single 20. He hit a single again on 10, then fluffing two at double five.

Hughes couldn't capitalise after problems with 32, two singles flying into 16 to bust his total. Dobey finally got double five to lead again.

Dobey hit another 180 in leg six, with Hughes fluffing a dart at tops for 78. His opponent landed double nine the second time around to make it 4-2.

Stubborn and spirited Hughes pulled one back in leg seven, with his second 180 along the way, as he erased 116 on tops.

Dobey hit his third maximum in leg eight, which he took on tops with his first dart at the target. Hughes had missed tops for a Shanghai finish.

Hughes held his throw in leg nine, landing double five at the second attempt after missing one go at double 10 to make it 5-4.

Dobey then made it 6-4, the first after Hughes had landed a third 180 and missed tops for 80. His adversary used two darts to record double 16 for 48.

Hughes again hung in there to pull it back to 6-5, missing one dart at double 18 for 101 before returning to take it out with his first throw.

Then Dobey raced ahead to win the next three legs without reply, missing tops for 54 twice before returning to make no mistake at the start of his next visit.

He broke to make it 8-5, after Hughes' one dart at double 12 landed in single 19. Dobey got double 12 at the second attempt.

Another 180 followed in the 14th leg, which he took on double 16 with one dart with Hughes not on a finish to move within a leg of victory.

Then came the Hughes fightback, starting on double six for 72 after he'd missed double 12. A 177 at the start of Dobey's throw in the 16th leg preceded tops to cut down the deficit to 9-7.

Hughes hit a fourth 180 with the darts, with Dobey landing a fifth maximum of his own and then missing the bull for an 88 finish and two at double 16. 'Yozza' stepped in for 107 on tops.

Another 177 against the throw kept up the pressure from Hughes, who went down to the nitty gritty to restore parity with one go at double two.

Hughes had the darts for the 19th and final leg, with 140 leaving him 24 with Dobey not on a finish. He ended up busting himself with a single seven.

His second visit saw him miss the board completely with all three goes at double 12 before Dobey pounced on 24, after a sixth 180, with his first attempt to end an entertaining clash.

Hughes had converted nine out of 35 attempts at a double, with Dobey only going one better. 'Yozza' averaged 90.38 to his rival's 94.01.