Van Gerwen and Smith go head-to-head (Photo by PDC)
Four multiple major champions lock horns on Semi-Final Saturday at the 2024 Betfred World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Thirty-two came, now only an elite quartet remain in the running for the Phil Taylor trophy and £200,000 top prize at the Winter Gardens.
The line-up includes two former Betfred World Matchplay champions, as well as the two most recent World Champions as they vie for a place in Sunday’s showpiece.
The opening semi-final sees reigning World Champion Luke Humphries looking to remain in the hunt for a fifth major ranking title since last October when he meets 2007 World Matchplay winner James Wade.
The world number one is appearing in a second successive semi-final in Blackpool, having lost out 17-15 to Jonny Clayton in a thriller 12 months ago.
Humphries returned to the Empress Ballroom on the back of his debut World Cup of Darts triumph last month and has continued his clinical recent record in televised ranking tournaments, making it seven semi-finals from his last eight appearances.
Humphries boasts a tournament average of 103.3 after thrashing Ricardo Pietreczko 10-4, seeing off Stephen Bunting 11-7 and 2020 champion Dimitri van den Bergh 16-10.
His first major final appearance resulted in an 11-5 defeat to Wade in the 2021 UK Open, but he has since dominated the head-to-heads, including victories in the 2023 Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.
Wade has rolled back the years to reach his ninth World Matchplay semi-final in what is his 19th appearance in the event.
The ten-time major winner, who secured the final ProTour qualification spot earlier this month, has returned to his brilliant best on his beloved Blackpool stage and victory over ‘Cool Hand’ would see him return to the world’s top 16.
Wade opened up with a 10-5 win over Danny Noppert, before dethroning reigning champion Nathan Aspinall 11-8 in the Last 16.
He then landed a staggering 13 maximums and averaged 100.3 in a 16-10 success over Ross Smith – the most 180s he has hit in over 1,300 matches.
The second semi-final features a repeat of the historic 2023 World Championship final between Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen.
That unforgettable contest saw Smith land a nine-darter after Van Gerwen had landed eight perfect darts in the same leg, and Bully Boy went on to fulfil his darting destiny by clinching his first world title.
Though they have met several times since, this will be their most high-profile fixture since that January evening at Alexandra Palace.
Van Gerwen, who claimed glory here in 2015, 2016 and 2022, is the second most successful player in the 30-year history of the World Matchplay and is seeking a first major ranking title since the 2022 Players Championship Finals.
The Dutch sensation got off to a flying start by defeating Premier League champion Luke Littler 10-6 with a 102 average, before battling past Joe Cullen 11-8 and recovering from 8-6 down to defeat his 2023 UK Open nemesis Andrew Gilding 16-10.
Smith is through to a third World Matchplay semi-final in his last six appearances and is bidding to go one better than his runner-up spot here in 2019.
He has provisionally climbed above MVG into the world number two spot courtesy of victories over Gary Anderson, Chris Dobey and Rob Cross.
The recent World Cup of Darts winner stands on the brink of an 11th major final appearance, having lost each of his first eight before going back-to-back at the 2023 Grand Slam and World Championship.
The action gets under way from 8pm BST, with Semi-Final matches to be contested over the best of 33 legs.
Matches will be extended if necessary for a maximum of six extra legs before a sudden death leg is required. For example, in a first to 17 semi-final, if the score reaches 19-19 then the 39th leg will be sudden death.
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