PDC World Darts Championship 2020 preview and schedule: Monday December 30, semi-finals

Two people are about to end 2019 in the best possible way; by reaching the PDC World Darts Championship final.

We've whittled 96 candidates all the way down to four. After the early flurry of shocks, it didn't seem like we'd have four seeds in the semi-finals. But numbers one, three, seven and 12 have proved themselves the cream of the crop. There's Michael van Gerwen, a 5-2 winner over Darius Labanauskas; Gerwyn Price, aiming for a third consecutive major final; Peter Wright, who is back in the semis after two barren years; and Nathan Aspinall, into his second consecutive World Darts Championship semi-final. Let battle commence.

Price on cusp of destiny

No need to preview this one. Gerwyn Price has already said he'll beat Peter Wright 6-0. We'll leave it there.

Both players head into this semi-final in excellent shape. Price was pushed to the wire by Glen Durrant in the first set; after that, despite surrendering one set, the Welshman cantered clear. An average of just under a ton highlights a strong performance. Although he's in a World Darts Championship semi-final for the first time, there's no suggestion that Price will feel the heat. He's had plenty of recent practice being in the latter stages of majors, and simply oozes confidence. He also has the psychological advantage of harking back to that incredible Grand Slam final stuffing of his Ally Pally opponent. The Iceman has flitted between on and off days thus far; now's the time for some consistency, otherwise he could face a real battle.

Wright joked that he'd be facing Durrant here, but alas, it's Price. Nobody will worry Snakebite if he can play as he did against Luke Humphries. He's not the most prolific maximum-hitter on the Tour, but Wright piled in a superb 12 of them en route to a 5-3 win. His match average - 105.86 - was the second-best of the tournament, and over eight sets. Wright relishes the long game, and won't panic if Price piles on an early advantage. A finalist six years ago, it's about time that the Scot stepped up and beat the very best to the title. It'll be a tough ask to do that here, especially if Price is in that steamrollering mood, but Wright will have an eye on that final.

Also, if anyone wants a sweepstake on when a commentator will make the obvious "the Price is Wright" pun, give me a shout. I'm giving it two minutes.

Asp out to go one better

The first game of the decade was Phil Taylor 5-0 Adrian Lewis in the World Darts Championship quarter-finals. The world number one averaged 107 and laid down a claim on a title he'd ultimately win, seeing off a hugely promising English star in the process. A young Michael van Gerwen was edged out in the second round of the 2010 championships. And now here we are in the last game of the decade, with van Gerwen as that dominance-seeking top dog, and Nathan Aspinall filling the Lewis role.

Mighty Mike has the knack of looking like he's not playing that well, when in fact he's doing brilliantly. A display against Darius Labanauskas that looked mediocre at first actually yielded a 99.5 average and a respectable 45 per cent success rate on the doubles. It's just that the Dutchman sets so high a bar that conceding three sets seems like a worry. In reality, he's well set to keep grinding his way to yet another big final. Van Gerwen claimed he found the Labanauskas game "a bit boring"; he won't have that same problem against Aspinall, with a World Darts Championship final place on the line.

There's something very endearing about Aspinall's emotional displays after winning on the Ally Pally stage. It's hard to imagine that the Asp has ever found a match boring in all his life. On Sunday, Dimitri van den Bergh did his best to quicken the pulse with a stirring fightback. Aspinall will undoubtedly be concerned at how his finishing abandoned him at key stages in that match, and how flat his game looked when the trademark heavy scoring wasn't there. However, he ultimately performed well enough to beat another top player, and has the capacity to do a lot more.

Van Gerwen is, of course, the favourite. And as Aspinall learned a year ago against Michael Smith, even averaging a ton over six or more sets can yield nothing if your opponent's in even better form. But those calling this a foregone conclusion might do well to remember how a certain underdog shocked the world number one a couple of years ago. If Mighty Mike wants to start the 2020s with a world title as Phil Taylor did in 1990, 2000 and 2010, he'll have to stay switched on throughout.

PDC World Darts Championship 2020 schedule

Monday December 30

Evening session (1900 GMT start)
Semi-finals

19:15 Gerwyn Price vs Peter Wright
21:15 Michael van Gerwen vs Nathan Aspinall

Click here for more information on the PDC World Darts Championship, which takes place at the Alexandra Palace between December 13 and January 1.