In another fantastic day of PDC World Darts Championship action, ‘Bully Boy’ Michael Smith produced his best performance at Ally Pally to dethrone defending champion Gerwyn Price to reach the semi-finals.
Peter Wright survived a scare against non-seeded Callum Rydz, with Gary Anderson and James Wade also finding their way to the semi-finals. TIBS News reviews all of the events on New Year’s Day.
AFTERNOON SESSION
James Wade dethrones Mervyn King
Wade is through to his fourth World Championship semi-final after a dominating 5-0 victory over Mervyn King.
Rarely does a whitewashed player top the averages but that’s precisely what happened here. Wade cruised through the game with only an 86.5 average.
King twice missed darts for the first set and surrendered a 2-1 lead in the second. From there all that remained was for Wade to keep him at arm’s length.
Wade hit tops for a 3-0 lead before cleaning up 70 to move one set away from wrapping up victory. He then pinned his favourite double 10 to complete the demolition job on the 55-year-old veteran.
Gary Anderson stops Luke Humphries
In the other afternoon game, Anderson produced big darts at big moments to deny Luke Humphries his first World Championship semi-final appearance in a 5-2 win for the Scot.
Humphries made a storming start winning all three legs without reply, averaging 102.48. Anderson replied by winning the next in a deciding leg, despite just 25 per cent on the doubles.
The Scot pinned tops for a 104-checkout en route to winning the third set against the throw, but Humphries claimed the fourth set 3-1 to make the score 2-2. Anderson then nailed a lovely 110 to claim the fifth set.
A classy 148 followed a double 11 under pressure which put Anderson on the brink of a semi-final berth. And a fourth ton-plus finish of 108 helped the Scot on his way to completing a 5-2 victory with a 96.3 average and eight 180s in total.
EVENING SESSION
Peter Wright ended unseeded Callum Rydz’s run
In the first evening session game, 2020 champion Wright came back from 3-1 down to barely beat non-seeded Callum Rydz 5-4 in yet another Ally Pally classic.
Wright needed two goes at throwing for the match as Rydz refused to lie down, but the 2020 world champion made the most of his second opportunity as, at last, his young opponent ran out of steam.
Playing in the biggest match of his career, Rydz would’ve been forgiven for making a slow start. Instead, he took out 152 and raced through the first set, before starting the second with a 106-checkout against the throw.
Further breaks came courtesy of 106 and 105 finishes to put Rydz 2-0 up, before Wright took his turn as a 112-finish put him on course to halve the deficit.
Rydz broke midway through the fourth set with a 97-finish and held throw to restore his cushion at 3-1, only for Wright to take out 140 at the beginning of set five and again get back within one.
Wright was not giving up that easily though and he nailed 140, 91, and 84 for an 11-darter to reduce the deficit. He came millimetres away from a nine-darter in the third leg of the sixth set. After landing eight perfect darts he went below double 12.
Rydz then punished Wright for crucial missed doubles to clinch the seventh set 3-1, although the Scot swept through the eighth to send the contest into a decider, where Wright used his experience to survive the Rydz riot.
Defending champion Gerwyn Price dumped out
In the final quarter-final match, Smith and defending champion Price but on another Ally Pally classic as the ‘Bully Boy’ knocked out the Welshman in a deciding set.
Despite a 121 from Smith, it was the Welsh ace who edged the opener with a 109.98 average. However, the 2019 finalist bounced back with three-straight legs, including a 107, to make it a level game.
With the two players exchanging legs back and forth, Price threw a superb nine-darter in the second leg of the fourth set. But it was ‘Bully Boy’ who claimed it with checkouts of 96 and 130 at an average of 121.30.
A 108 sealed the fifth set for Price but Smith bounced back to whitewash his opponent and tie it up at 3-3, winning the set with just 38 darts and an average of 118.66. Price would win the seventh set in simple fashion.
Smith then punished Price after he squandered two match darts to send the game to a decider where Smith broke throw. He then followed it up with a 126-checkout on the bullseye and nailed a double 12 to send the defending champion home.
By Charlie Parker
