Preview semifinals World Darts Championship 2024: Who will reach the final at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday night?

Who will win the World Darts Championship will not become clear until Wednesday night, but that it will be an Englishman in any case is already certain. On Tuesday night, four Englishmen will compete for two available spots for the grand final.

The crazy World Championship at Alexandra Palace got a new chapter Monday night after top favorite Michael van Gerwen was surprisingly eliminated in the quarter-finals. Earlier, his rivals Peter Wright (second round), James Wade (second round), Nathan Aspinall (second round), Gerwyn Price (third round) and defending champion Michael Smith (last sixteen) had to pack their bags early in London.

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With 16-year-old phenom Luke Littler and showman Scott Williams, there are two players from outside the top-32 of the PDC Order of Merit in the semifinals. Furthermore, former world champion Rob Cross is still in the tournament, while Luke Humphries is the only remaining top favorite who has yet to be surprised at the World Darts Championship.

We would have had a new world champion anyway. Cross managed to make up an 0-4 deficit in his quarterfinal against Chris Dobey. At times 'Voltage' was outplayed by 'Hollywood', but supported by the crowd, Cross still managed to win the match 5-4.

Cross became world champion at the PDC in 2018, but did not manage to reach the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace after that. The fact that he is already in the last four will be a huge boost for the man from Hastings, who also managed to win over Thibault Tricole (3-0), Jeffrey de Graaf (4-2) and Jonny Clayton (4-0).

In the semifinals, Cross will face one of the great stars of the tournament. Opponent Luke Littler is only sixteen years old, but "The Nuke" is not afraid of the stage. So far he has shown all his opponents all corners of Alexandra Palace with his phenomenal play.

His entrance in the first round was a real treat. Christian Kist had no chance against Littler and lost 3-0 in sets. In that match the English prodigy recorded an average of 106.12. This performance made Littler the youngest player ever to win a match at the World Darts Championship. Moreover, he recorded the highest ever average of a World Championship debutant in his first match. Kist predicted after his defeat that Littler could become world champion despite his very young age. In any case, Littler is now the youngest semifinalist ever at the World Darts Championship, and who knows what else may lie ahead.

After his victory over Kist, 'The Nuke' also took care of Andrew Gilding (3-1), Matt Campbell (4-1), Raymond van Barneveld (4-1) and Brendan Dolan (5-1). Against Van Barneveld, by the way, Littler also recorded an average of 105.01 per turn. The tournament will already be a success for Littler, but a final or even a world title will obviously make the fairy tale even better.

On the other side of the schedule, there are two more players who each have their own story to tell. For years, former World Youth champion Humphries was hobbling toward the darting elite, but that one big break didn't happen. By 2022, Humphries was already blossoming with four titles on the Euro Tour. In autumn of 2023, he finally succeeded at the major tournaments as well. Humphries took the title at the World Grand Prix, and that ensured that the proverbial fence was broken through. James Wade managed to outsmart Humphries at the European Championship, but that turned out to be his only defeat on television as of late. In November, Humphries won the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals. Now the world title also beckons, and with a final place at least the number-one position in the world rankings.

As the top favorite with the bookmakers, Humphries traveled to the World Darts Championship, but the first rounds proved to be a huge struggle for the man from Newbury. Right after his 3-0 victory over Lee Evans in the second round, Humphries lost his status as top favorite to Michael van Gerwen. He then trailed 1-3 against Ricardo Pietreczko, but still managed to beat the German 4-3 in sets. Also against Joe Cullen, Humphries survived a deficit. The Rockstar' squandered an 0-2 lead and even missed two match darts in the decisive seventh set to put an end to his compatriot's title aspirations. Humphries' top form still emerged and after a sudden-death leg, 'Cool Hand Luke' booked his spot in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Humphries seems to have thrown off all his shyness. In the last eight, he left Dave Chisnall defenseless 5-1 thanks to an average of 103.50 per turn. In that form, it will take a top performance to stop Humphries.

That top performance will have to come from Scott Williams in the semifinals. The flamboyant Englishman shook things up in London. On the one hand with his charisma on stage, and on the other with remarkable statements (reference to the two world wars between England and Germany after his victory over German Martin Schindler and saying fans should watch Emmerdale if they don't like his flamboyance).

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Williams did not have an easy route to the last four, as he already faced four players from the top-32 of the seedings list. After his victory over Haruki Muramatsu (3-1) in the first round, seventh-seeded Danny Noppert was his first big test. That match was won 4-0, before 'Shaggy' dealt with Martin Schindler (4-3) after a thriller. Then top-10 player Damon Heta was defeated 4-1 for a spot in the last eight.

In that round, Williams recorded perhaps the finest and biggest win of his career. He defeated top favorite Michael van Gerwen 5-3 in sets. As a result, he too is only two wins away from the world title. In any case, "Shaggy" has already earned quite a bit of money at the World Darts Championship. He can already credit 100,000 pounds, more than Williams managed to earn in all of 2023 with his darts performance. But the real big money won't be distributed until the next two rounds.

World Darts Championship 2024 playing schedule

Tuesday, Jan. 2 (from 7:30 p.m.)

Semi-finals

Rob Cross v Luke Littler

Scott Williams v Luke Humphries

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