World Grand Prix Darts 2022 | Semi-Finals Preview and Order of Play
The final four face off on a box office night of Semi-Final action at the 2022 World Grand Prix in Leicester on Sunday.
The world’s top three ranked players and a former major champion comprise a star-studded Semi-Final line-up at the Morningside Arena as they bid to remain on course for Grand Prix glory.
The opening Semi-Final sees 2020 World Grand Prix champion Gerwyn Price take on former UK Open winner Nathan Aspinall.
Price is eyeing a place in a third consecutive final appearance in the double-start major as he bids to retain the world number one spot.
The Welshman must lift the trophy on Sunday and hope that Peter Wright loses in the Semi-Finals if he is to avoid being leapfrogged at the top of the Order of Merit, but Price will be fully-focused on his quest for a sixth televised ranking title.
Price began his campaign with a routine straight sets win over Martin Schindler before reeling off six consecutive legs from 2-1 down to deny Joe Cullen in a decider and going on to thrash Latvian debutant Madars Razma in three sets on Friday.
Runner-up in July’s World Matchplay, Price went on to win the World Series Finals and is aiming to become only the fourth multiple winner of this prestigious event.
Aspinall, meanwhile, has broken new ground by reaching his first World Grand Prix Semi-Final, marking his best run in a televised tournament since last October’s European Championship.
The 2020 Premier League finalist defeated fourth seed Michael Smith 2-1 in his opener before sensationally recovering from two sets behind to deny Danny Noppert in a fiery encounter.
He then battled his way to another deciding set victory over debutant Martin Lukeman, and having come into the event as world number 16, could climb as high as seventh in the rankings if he were to win the title on Sunday.
A mouth-watering second Semi-Final features the renewal of the rivalry between multiple World Champions Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen.
Van Gerwen has won the last five meetings between the two players since Wright ended his rival’s title defence at the Players Championship Finals last November, and the Dutchman is bidding to maintain his unbeaten record in World Grand Prix Semi-Finals.
The five-time champion, who has picked up the Premier League and World Matchplay titles this season, brushed aside a struggling Gary Anderson in straight sets before edging out Stephen Bunting 3-2 and registering the highest average of the tournament so far (99.3) in a 3-1 success over Chris Dobey.
A win for Snakebite would see him regain the world number one spot and move into his first Grand Prix final since 2018 – when he was denied by MVG in Dublin.
The reigning World Champion overcame Kim Huybrechts in successive sets in Round One, before coming through two last-set deciders, first against Krzysztof Ratajski and then against Dimitri van den Bergh in a nail-biting sudden death leg.
Van Gerwen boasts a tournament average of 95.3 to Wright’s 88.8, and after a war of words in the build-up to the contest, the duo will now look to let their tungsten do the talking on stage.
The action gets under way from 8pm BST, with Semi-Final matches to be contested over the best of nine sets.
All Sets are the best of five legs and there will be no tie break in any set. All legs must begin and end with a double, meaning that a player must hit a double before they can begin scoring in each leg.
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World Grand Prix 2022 Semi-Finals Schedule
Saturday October 8
Semi-Finals
8.15pm Gerwyn Price v Nathan Aspinall
9.30pm Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen
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