James Wade continued his remarkable run at this year's World Matchplay as he advanced to the semi-finals to face World Champion Luke Humphries following a 16-10 win over Ross Smith.
Wade, in his 19th consecutive World Matchplay tournament but chasing his first trophy in Blackpool since 2007, produced a scoring masterclass to outperform Ross Smith, universally regarded as the best 180 hitter on the PDC circuit today.
Entering the tournament as the very last qualifier through the Pro Tour, Wade has already taken out the World Number 12 in Danny Noppert, as well as the defending champion Nathan Aspinall en-route to his first semi-final at the Winter Gardens since 2019.
But the toughest test yet awaits in the semi-final, as World Number 1 Luke Humphries will be keen to go further this time around, after he narrowly fell to Jonny Clayton at this stage last year.
The pair traded wins in major events last year, with Wade denying Humphries in the European Championship semi final, but Cool Hand dispatching the Machine with ease in the Grand Slam semi final.
Humphries will enter Saturday night as the heavy favourite, but the stat circulating right now is that James Wade has only ever lost once in the World Matchplay when he has been averaging over 98, and that was at the hands of Phil Taylor.
Read More: PDC World Matchplay Round of 16 Review
In the other half of the draw, Michael Van Gerwen continues his quest for a fourth World Matchplay title, but a hard fought win against Andrew Gilding could inspire Michael Smith to capitalise.
MVG may have gone on an eight-leg streak to beat the 2023 UK Open Champion 16-10, but doubling woes prolonged the game far longer than it should have taken.
Smith meanwhile was ruthless against the in-form Rob Cross, avenging his defeat against 'Voltage' in the 2019 Final in a 16-7 rout.
Smith has been producing some career best performances in Blackpool this week, with wins against Gary Anderson and Chris Dobey preceding this. Considering Van Gerwen's form in 2024, is the Bully Boy on his way to a first major final appearance since the 2023 World Championship?
By Jaspar Shepherdson
(@jasparshepmedia on X/Twitter and Instagram)
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