MARK WALSH 8-3 WAYNE JONES

MARK WALSH won through to his second successive major quarter-final, defeating Wayne Jones 8-3 in the Cash Converters Players Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Walsh, a semi-finalist in the Grand Slam of Darts last month, will now meet Wes Newton in the last eight on Sunday as the pair challenge for the £60,000 title at the Doncaster Dome.

He never looked back after taking an early 3-0 lead, replying to an opening 180 from Jones by hitting two maximums of his own to pull clear in the first leg, which he eventually won on double five after the Wolverhampton ace missed two darts to steal.

Walsh won the second leg on double two and finished double 12 to move 3-0 up before missing chances to win the fourth, with Jones hitting tops to get off the mark.

Walsh took the fifth on double ten, but Jones punished three misses from the Hertfordshire ace to pull back to 4-2 by landing double four in the sixth.

However, his hopes of continuing the fightback were dented as Walsh took out 121 on tops, double 15 and a 112 checkout to move to the brink of victory at 7-2.

Jones pushed clear in the next, but missed the bull for a 161 finish and five darts at double eight to give Walsh a chance to seal victory with a 160 finish.

He missed tops, though, for the combination as Jones hit double two to keep the match alive, but his respite was brief as Walsh hit tops in the next leg to progress.

"I'm really happy to have won but I know I can play better," said Walsh. "I feel for Wayne because he's a fantastic player and he didn't turn up today.

"But I did enough to get through and I can look forward to the quarter-finals."

Jones admitted: "I felt good but it was a poor performance from me and I don't know why. I didn't deserve to win it and I'll go away now and prepare for the World Championship."