Luke Humphries and James Wade will clash in the World Matchplay semi-finals after they both claimed impressive 16-10 victories in Blackpool on Thursday night.
The Machine, who is appearing on this stage for the 19th successive year, was the first player into the last four after he upset the odds against Ross Smith with an uncharacteristic display of power scoring.
Wade scraped into the 32-player field at the 11th hour after a difficult season and wasn't widely expected to challenge for his second World Matchplay title but he rolled back the years to prove why he must never be underestimated.
The 2007 champion, who is known for his timing and clinical finishing, hammered in 13 of the 23 maximums to make a mockery of the 16/1 price about him hitting more 180s than Smith while he averaged 100.3 and pinned over 42% of his doubles.
He will need to play at a similar level to stop Humphries in Saturday's semi-finals after the world champion averaged 100+ for the third successive game during his 16-10 triumph over Dimitri Van den Bergh.
It was a fast start from the world champion, who broke Van den Bergh in the opening leg and then again to lead 3-0 on the back of four maximums.
Van den Bergh – who beat Humphries in the final of the UK Open in March – then got on the board against the darts before pulling another leg back going into the first interval just 3-2 behind.
The Belgian – World Matchplay champion behind closed doors in Milton Keynes in 2020 – then levelled the match after the restart as Humphries failed to take out 46, which Van den Bergh then finished on to move ahead for the first time at 4-3.
Humphries stopped the rot to hold on his next throw, and then there remained little between the pair as the world champion took an 8-7 lead into the mid-session break.
A checkout of 115 followed by taking another leg off Van den Bergh’s darts saw Humphries edge 11-8 in front, only for the Belgian to pull one back again before the next interval.
Humphries, though, then went up through the gears, with a stunning 164 finish seeing him win five straight legs to complete a 16-10 victory and moved into the World Matchplay semi-finals for the second straight year.
“After the first five legs I felt deflated and tired, which can happen in random games – I just did not feel the real Luke Humphries up there tonight,” Humphries said on Sky Sports.
“But I said to myself ‘just stick in there, work hard and don’t leg your mind play games with you’.
“I worked incredibly hard in that last session to get over the line, and it was a great performance in the last few legs.”
World Matchplay Darts 2024: Draw and tournament bracket
QUARTER-FINALS
- (1) Luke Humphries 16-10 Dimitri Van den Bergh (9)
- (13) Ross Smith 10-16 James Wade
- (2) Michael van Gerwen v Andrew Gilding
- (3) Michael Smith v Rob Cross (6)
ROUND TWO
- (1) Luke Humphries 11-7 Stephen Bunting (16)
- (8) Jonny Clayton 5-11 Dimitri Van den Bergh (9)
- (4) Gerwyn Price 9-11 Ross Smith (13)
- (5) Nathan Aspinall 8-11 James Wade
- (2) Michael van Gerwen 11-8 Joe Cullen (15)
- Krzysztof Ratajski 5-11 Andrew Gilding
- (3) Michael Smith 11-9 Chris Dobey (14)
- (6) Rob Cross 11-6 Ryan Searle
ROUND ONE
- (1) Luke Humphries 10-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
- (16) Stephen Bunting 12-10 Ryan Joyce
- (8) Jonny Clayton 10-7 Raymond van Barneveld
- (9) Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-6 Martin Schindler
- (4) Gerwyn Price 10-4 Daryl Gurney
- (13) Ross Smith 10-4 Josh Rock
- (5) Nathan Aspinall 10-8 Luke Woodhouse
- (12) Danny Noppert 5-10 James Wade
- (2) Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Luke Littler
- (15) Joe Cullen 10-4 Brendan Dolan
- (7) Dave Chisnall 2-10 Krzysztof Ratajski
- (10) Peter Wright 5-10 Andrew Gilding
- (3) Michael Smith 10-5 Gary Anderson
- (14) Chris Dobey 10-7 Ritchie Edhouse
- (6) Rob Cross 13-12 Gian van Veen
- (11) Damon Heta 4-10 Ryan Searle
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