The action continues on Saturday with Gerwyn Price the star attraction - you can follow coverage via the Sky Sports app from 7.30pm
Saturday 18 April 2020 11:23, UK
Peter Wright missed out on winning the opening group of the PDC Home Tour as Wales' Jamie Lewis claimed top spot to seal a spot in the last 32.
Lewis, nicknamed Fireball, produced the performance of his life to beat Snakebite in the 2018 World Championship second round at Alexandra Palace, and he was at it again as a 5-1 win over Wright proved pivotal in seeing him win the group on leg difference.
Wright had started with a win over Peter Jacques courtesy of a last-leg decider, but when Lewis beat Jacques in the penultimate match of the night, it meant that reigning world champion and the world No 2 Wright was out.
Even a whitewash victory would not suffice for Wright and it was only his opponent in the last match, Niels Zonneveld, who could stop Lewis progressing. Needing to win 5-0 or 5-1, the Dutchman lost two of the opening three legs to ensure that Lewis could not be overtaken at the top of the table, and eventually went down 5-1 at the hands of Snakebite.
Welshman Lewis, who has suffered a collapse in form since his Ally Pally heroics, now moves into the second round, scheduled for just over a month's time when all of the winners from the 32 nights of action reconvene for the next phase of action.
Just over three months on from his World Championship triumph at a raucous Alexandra Palace, Wright was throwing from the comfort, and calm, of his mancave but did not have everything his own way.
Snakebite donned his trademark mohican for the occasion, with his own unique tribute to the hardworking staff of the NHS, thanks to the work of his wife Joanne.
Wright kicked off the evening's action and survived a missed match dart from Jacques to pin a pair of double tops for a 5-4 win, having trailed 4-3 in the opener.
After wins for Zonneveld and Jacques, Lewis then stunned Snakebite to leave all four players on two points going into the last round of matches and top spot up for grabs.
Lewis and Wright won their respective encounters meaning it came down to leg difference and it was Lewis' dominant win between the pair in match four that was enough to get him into top spot.
The PDC's offering of live sport amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced the world into lockdown and sport into shutdown, has captured headlines for its innovation, as well as Gary Anderson and Daryl Gurney's WiFi issues.
There is hope that those concerns for two of the sport's biggest names may be eradicated in the coming days and weeks and they may take their place among the line-ups to come.
With Premier League Darts suspended from mid-March, and a return looking unlikely until July, all eyes were on the homes of Wright, Lewis, Zonneveld and Jacques as the action got underway.
The quartet delivered an entertaining Friday night of action that sets the tone for the next 31 nights.
The tournament will continue with four PDC Tour card holders going up against each other in a group of six fixtures; with those topping the group making it through to the second phase of the competition.
Gerwyn Price is Saturday's headline act, with world No 11 Dave Chisnall, former BDO world champion Scott Waites and four-time women's world champion Lisa Ashton all set to feature over the next three nights.
The groups and fixtures for Tuesday-Friday are expected to be confirmed over the weekend but for as the action got underway it was a surprise winner who took the early headlines.
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