Michael Smith ended Gerwyn Price’s reign as World Champion, winning 5-4 in an incredible quarter-final which saw Price hit a nine-darter.<\/p>\n
Price was left to rue two missed match darts as Smith kept his composure to move one game away from a second World Championship final.<\/p>\n
Smith will return for Sunday’s semi-finals night to take on James Wade, who breezed past
\nMervyn King 5-0.<\/p>\n
Former World Champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson will meet in an all-Scottish tie after the duo enjoyed victories over Callan Rydz and Luke Humphries respectively as the quarter-finals took place across two sessions on New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n
Yet another incredible night of action saw Price hit his first televised nine-darter and the third of this year’s tournament, setting a new World Championship record.<\/p>\n
Despite hitting perfection in set four, Smith averaged 121.33 to win the set to level the contest at 2-2 before Price took the fifth set to regain the advantage at 3-2.<\/p>\n
The following two sets were shared, with Price leading 4-3 heading into what proved to be a decisive eighth set.<\/p>\n
After Price missed darts at double top and double ten for the match, Smith held his nerve on double eight to force a ninth set.<\/p>\n
Smith broke throw in the first leg of the decider and backed it up with a 108 checkout to put Price on the ropes.<\/p>\n
The world number one held throw to stay alive but missed tops for a 110 finish in what proved to be the final leg as Smith pinned double 12 for a memorable win.<\/p>\n
“I’m so happy, this is up there with one of the best nights of my career,” said Smith.<\/p>\n
“I thought I played really well but I started shaking towards the end and I had to compose myself.
\n“When I was on the last double 12 I just said to myself ‘focus on what you’ve been working on for the last 12 months’.<\/p>\n
“I’m one step closer to living my dream. This is my chance.”<\/p>\n
An unforgettable start to the year also saw Wright defeat Rydz in a nine-set thriller to reach his fourth World Championship semi-final.<\/p>\n
The 2020 champion recovered from 3-1 and 4-3 down to deny 23-year-old sensation Rydz the biggest win of his life.<\/p>\n
A captivating contest saw Rydz get off to a dream start in his first quarter-final appearance, averaging 110 and pinning a 152 checkout to take the opening set.<\/p>\n
Rydz continued to endear himself to the crowd, winning two of the next three sets as he took the game to his more experienced opponent.<\/p>\n
Wright won the next set to reduce the deficit to 3-2, before a crucial sixth set saw him miss double 12 for a nine-darter, and after Rydz missed a dart at tops for the set, Wright hit double 18 and tops for a 96 checkout to make it 3-3.<\/p>\n
Rydz refused to wilt, winning the next set 3-1 to regain the lead before Wright won the eighth set 3-0 to force a ninth and final set.<\/p>\n
The decider saw Wright break in the first leg and hold throw to move within a leg of victory, only for Rydz to fight back once again, winning back-to-back legs to force a tie-break.<\/p>\n
Wright then pinned a vital double nine with his last dart in hand to break throw once again and this time held throw to bring the curtain down on a classic.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy with the win but I was annoyed with myself for missing crucial doubles throughout the match which let Callan back in,” said Wright.<\/p>\n
“That was why I reacted the way I did at the end, it was a release of frustration for not getting the job done earlier.<\/p>\n
“It was a great match to play in, not many people would’ve beaten Callan the way he played tonight. I think my experience got me through in the end.<\/p>\n
“I’m looking forward to playing Gary, I want to achieve as much as him before I retire.
\n“Hopefully the game will be as good as tonight’s if not better.”<\/p>\n
Anderson continued his quest for a third World Championship title with a ruthless 5-2 defeat of Humphries.<\/p>\n
A pulsating contest saw Anderson land four ton-plus checkouts as he reached the semi-finals for the seventh time.<\/p>\n
Rising star Humphries made a perfect start to his third quarter-final appearance in four years as he took the opening set 3-0.<\/p>\n
The next two sets went Anderson’s way, before Humphries hit back to restore parity at 2-2.<\/p>\n
Set five proved pivotal as Anderson recovered from 2-0 down, landing a 110 finish to break throw to win the set decider, before kicking off set six with a 148 checkout under pressure.<\/p>\n
Humphries continued to apply pressure, but Anderson’s experience showed as he kept cool to win each of the last three sets 3-2.<\/p>\n
“I played alright but I missed a lot of doubles at the start,” said Anderson, who hit four ton-plus checkouts.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got not expectations whatsoever of winning this tournament; I just play my game and if it’s good enough then great, if not I’ll say good luck to the player who beat me.<\/p>\n
“I’m not at my best yet but I feel like it’s getting closer with each game.”<\/p>\n
Wade cruised into his third World Championship semi-final, his first in nine years, with a 5-0 demolition of King.<\/p>\n
Wade displayed his trademark timing, winning three of the sets 3-2, to make it back-to-back whitewashes having beaten Martijn Kleermaker 4-0 in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
King led 2-1 in both the first two sets, but was unable to recover from those setbacks as Wade cantered to the finish line.<\/p>\n
“It wasn’t expected, I thought I had a real battle on hay hands with Mervyn,” said Wade.<\/p>\n
“I was fortunate that Mervyn didn’t play his game and I got away with a lot.<\/p>\n
“Merv’s beaten me so many times in a row prior to this but I’ve bashed him here and done a proper job on him.<\/p>\n
“This is the first year I’ve had no chaos going on away from darts and I feel relaxed heading into the next round.”<\/p>\n
The world’s biggest darts tournament returns on Sunday with the semi-final action starting at 1930 GMT.<\/p>\n
2021\/22 William Hill World Darts Championship Evening Session (1930 GMT) Sunday January 2 (1930 GMT) Monday January 3 (2000 GMT) Michael Smith ended Gerwyn Price’s reign as World Champion, winning 5-4 in an incredible quarter-final which saw Price hit a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"de":4289,"en":4286},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4286"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4293,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions\/4293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSchedule of Play
\nSaturday January 1
\nAfternoon Session (1230 GMT)
\n2x Quarter-Finals<\/strong>
\nJames Wade 5-0 Mervyn King (3-2, 3-2, 3-1, 3-2, 3-1)
\nGary Anderson 5-2 Luke Humphries (0-3, 3-2, 3-1, 1-3, 3-2, 3-2, 3-2)<\/p>\n
\n2x Quarter-Finals<\/strong>
\nPeter Wright 5-4 Callan Rydz (0-3, 2-3, 3-1, 1-3, 3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 3-0, 4-2)
\nMichael Smith 5-4 Gerwyn Price (2-3, 3-0, 2-3, 3-1, 1-3, 3-0, 2-3, 3-2, 3-1)<\/p>\n
\n2x Semi-Finals<\/strong>
\nMichael Smith v James Wade
\nPeter Wright v Gary Anderson<\/p>\n
\nFinal<\/strong>
\nSmith\/Wade v Wright\/Anderson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"