The 2024 Betfred World Matchplay continues on Thursday, as the quarter-finals get underway at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.
Day Six of the £800,000 event will see the opening two quarter-finals take place at the Empress Ballroom, as world number one Luke Humphries takes on 2020 champion Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Thursday’s other tie will see 2007 winner James Wade and former European Champion Ross Smith go head-to-head for a place in Saturday’s semi-finals.
The Betfred World Matchplay is broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2024 Betfred World Matchplay
Thursday July 18
Quarter-Finals x2
James Wade 16-10 Ross Smith
Luke Humphries v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Best of 31 legs
Friday July 19 (2000 BST)
Quarter-Finals x2
Michael van Gerwen v Andrew Gilding
Michael Smith v Rob Cross
Best of 31 legs
Night Six Report
James Wade booked his place in the semi-finals for the first time in nine years with a 16-10 win over Ross Smith.
2007 champion Wade produced a vintage display, averaging 100.30 and hitting 13 180s to reach a ninth World Matchplay semi-final.
An underdog coming into the tie, Wade was a front-runner for the bulk of the contest with his trademark finishing under pressure denying Smith a way back.
“I feel really good after that,” said Wade. “I enjoyed the game, it was a great game and I’m just glad that I played a little bit better than Ross on the night.
“He played really well at the start; I felt like I dragged him into a scrap and then I took charge.
“My scoring was good but I’ve been playing a lot better in practice so it’s not something I’m surprised by.
“I thought I could’ve played better at times and I know I can play a lot better than that.”
Smith flew out of the traps, averaging 114 in the opening five legs to take a 3-2 lead.
Wade landed checkouts of 120 and 121 on his way to taking a 6-4 lead, before hitting his third ton-plus finish of the match to lead 8-5.
After Wade missed four darts for a 10-5 cushion, Smith took advantage with a clinical 107 finish to cut the gap to 9-6.
Wade then kicked for home, winning three of the next four legs to take a 12-7 lead before Smith took out 107 for a second time to stay in touch.
Smith continued to scrap, hitting a magnificent 161 checkout to stay in contention at 13-10, but that proved to be his last leg as Wade reeled off a trio of legs to seal victory.