And then there were only four. From 8.30pm Littler, Cross, Humphries and Williams will battle for a place in the final.
Luke Littler is living his dream and has previously eliminated Van Barneveld and Dolan. The prodigy will compete against Rob Cross, who immediately won the title on his debut at the 2018 World Championships.
The other semi-final is between Luke Humphries and Scott Willliams. The latter surprisingly eliminated Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman had previously told him about a simple dessert.
11.26pm
Yesterday
Humphries wins!
Williams will face Luke Humphries in the semi-final. The world number 3 remained the top ranked player at the World Cup after the elimination of Mighty Mike and defeated Dave Chisnall in the second match of the evening: 5-1. After the real thriller against Joe Cullen in the round of 16, Cool Hand Luke won his quarter-final much more comfortably.
11.01pm
Yesterday
Humphries-Chisnall (4-1)
Triple 20, triple 11 and double 14 for Humphries who runs away with the set! A high quality set, largely due to the last dart at 1-1. Cool Hand Luke needs another one.
The numbers: in terms of average Humphries is clearly ahead with 104.31 to 98.89. The statistics also lean slightly more towards the world number 3 in throwing (38.9% versus 34.6%).
10.46pm
Yesterday
Humphries-Chisnall (3-1)
Chisnall comes out with 11 and 12 darts, but then messes up when bowling for the set. Humphries then comes back from 2-0 and in the end he is the one who comes off the podium with the fourth set in his pocket.
10.39pm
Yesterday
Humphries-Chisnall (2-1)
Chisnall fails to break Humphries at 1-1. He misses two doubles and his opponent starts with the leg. Humphries then breaks Chisnall’s serve, closing the third set at 3-1.
10.23pm
Yesterday
Humphries-Chisnall (1-1)
Humphries misses five arrows in the first leg to break his opponent. Chisnall then regrouped and took a 2-1 lead in the legs. Then Humphries bowls another 164 to make it 2-2. The deciding match belongs to Chisnall and it is now 1-1 in sets!
10.19pm
Yesterday
Humphries-Chisnall (1-0)
Chisnall doesn’t start this match well and so Humphries takes the first set quite easily. Wins 3-1. Work to do for Chizzy!
10pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen out!
“Another New Year without a wife and children,” an emotional Van Gerwen said after reaching the quarter-finals of the Darts World Cup for the tenth time. In the end it all turned out to be useless. Van Gerwen had declared in advance that his next opponent would be the first dessert of 2024, but he remained breathless.
The start of Van Gerwen, who had not yet lost a set in this World Cup, was already dramatic. The Dutchman missed his first eleven (!) arrows in doubles, although he scored 54% in doubles until the quarterfinals, the highest score of all participants.
From the second set onwards Van Gerwen stepped on the accelerator. He took the second set with an average of 116.71 (while Williams also played strong with an average of 108.18), after which he dealt a mental blow in the third set by breaking Williams, but Van Gerwen was not able to capitalize on that break in the fourth set. With an average of 77.94, the three-time world champion had to leave the fourth set to Williams and saw the Dutchman’s irritation increase. Not only because of his mistakes, but also because of Williams’ mannerisms.
The Englishman is a showman. At the start of this World Cup he caused a stir by making a comment after his victory over Schindler about “winning in the world wars”. The darts player, 33, was immediately met with outrage and apologised. He also deleted his account on him
Williams continued to do her job, looking unimpressed by the Dutch world number two and had Van Gerwen cornered after the seventh set to take a 4-3 lead. In the eighth set for a moment it seemed that the nerves had calmed down, but in the end Shaggy completed the job against all expectations, to the disbelief of Van Gerwen and the entire darts world.
And so after 2014, 2017 and 2019, Van Gerwen is stuck with three world titles. “I once said that I wanted to win the World Cup once every two years. You have to have the courage to set this goal. There was also some time between my first and second world title, so it passed so long? It’s not like that. I’m interested in them.”, said Van Gerwen before the World Cup.
Next year, however, it will already be six (!) years since Mighty Mike will be able to call himself the best in the world. With, obviously, the risk that he no longer works. And while almost all darts players, including Van Gerwen himself, agree that he is. However, for now he doesn’t buy anything for it.
9.43pm
Yesterday
Williams wins!
Game, shot and game, Scott Williams! Who would have thought?!
9.42pm
Yesterday
Williams then throws another big leg and it becomes 1-1. With a 180’er to start the next leg of Mighty Mike!
58 comes out with two arrows and therefore it is now match point for Williams…
9.39pm
Yesterday
What happens here in the first leg of the fifth set?! Van Gerwen falls behind with one leg, but Williams misses one opportunity after another to land a new blow. Van Gerwen takes it again via double 1.
9.32pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen-Williams (3-4)
Now even Van Gerwen has serious problems finding triples! What he does is a bit “all over the place” and everything exudes little self-confidence. Williams is at 4-3 and therefore the Dutch cannot afford any more mistakes.
9.27pm
Yesterday
Worst match of the match? Perhaps. Van Gerwen starts on laps 60, 42 and 59, but Williams takes no advantage! The score is 1-1 in the seventh set after the final 95′ of MVG.
The next stage is good for Williams, which leads 2-1.
9.23pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen-Williams (3-3)
Van Gerwen doesn’t miss a double in the sixth set and ties the score again. Can he continue like this in the next set, Williams’?
9.12pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen-Williams (2-3)
Williams enthusiastically celebrates winning the fifth set – and don’t blame him! He wins two sets in a row 3-0 and is now gradually causing serious problems for Van Gerwen.
Williams’ doubles percentage remains stable at 40%, while Van Gerwen drops further to 21%.
9.10pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen lost it
This is already the fourth consecutive stage for Williams! Thanks to Van Gerwen who missed two more chances at half-time.
In fact it becomes 2-0 for Williams…
9.02pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen-Williams (2-2)
That’s four more errors for Van Gerwen… He buckled his own leg twice in this set and Williams came alongside again in the game. This is far from over.
Mighty Mike only shot an average of 77.9 in that set. And that double percentage of 24% is not what we are used to from him.
8.58pm
Yesterday
At the beginning of the fourth set Williams takes the break again! Shaggy then continues his own leg and makes it 2-0 in the fourth set.
8.56pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen-Williams (2-1)
Suddenly there are five costly mistakes from Williams that no one expects! The Englishman seems to have moved away, but then he starts joking and lets Van Gerwen escape. Van Gerwen leads in the set: the score is 2-1!
8.51pm
Yesterday
Van Gerwen goes away with a 180’er at 82, but doesn’t finish. These are moments that an MVG in normal behavior can capture. Williams is 2-1.
After a creative final 121 by the Dutchman, we go to the decisive fifth stage!
