Overview
- The last four for the Betfred World Matchplay are confirmed with Luke Littler facing Dirk van Duijvenbode and Gerwyn Price meeting Gian van Veen in Saturday’s semi-finals at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.
- Littler reached the semis with a dominant 16-7 quarter-final win over Josh Rock in which he averaged 109.57 and hit 17 maximum 180s.
- Price advanced with a 16-12 quarter-final victory over Ross Smith, posting a 102.78 average, while Van Veen beat James Wade 16-13 to reach his first Matchplay semi-final.
- If Littler wins the semi and finishes runner-up he would push his PDC Live Order of Merit total past £3,043,500 with a tournament winner taking home £225,000 from the £1m prize fund.
- Back-to-back Matchplay titles are rare and Littler’s run is changing the sport’s balance by widening his ranking gap and increasing his commercial and betting-market influence.