Schedule Thursday night at World Matchplay 2024 including Luke Humphries against Dimitri van den Bergh

We have arrived at the quarterfinals of the World Matchplay with Thursday's schedule now confirmed. It's the turn of the four remaining men to do battle for a spot in the latter stages. Read our preview for Thursday night's two quarterfinals at the World Matchplay here.

Compared to the second round, the format has gone up a bit again. Sixteen legs will have to be won to reach the next round. However, that is subject to a difference of at least two legs at that point. If the score is 15-15 after thirty legs, then an tie-break scenario will be started. If the score is still tied after six additional legs, a sudden-death leg will be played meaning added drama to the tie and it could be prolonged for a long time further than expected on Thursday night.

Two men you might not have filled in right away to make it to the quarterfinals are going to determine between them who will be the first player to qualify for the semifinals at the World Matchplay.

Ross Smith was not fortunate in the draw for the World Matchplay. He was paired with Josh Rock, who has been playing excellently for several weeks. However, so did Smith, who won a Players Championship tournament in early July. The former World Youth champion was swept aside 10-4.

Then "Smudger" proved too strong 11-9 for Gerwyn Price, putting Smith in the last eight at the World Matchplay for the first time in his career. In his two previous participations in Blackpool (2021 and 2023), he was eliminated in the first round. It is also only his third quarterfinal at a major. His first was a quarterfinal at the 2019 UK Open, while Smith surprisingly won the European Championship in 2022.

Wade, meanwhile, was ready for a good performance at the World Matchplay, which was surely his most successful tournament in the past. In his first ten participations from 2006 to 2015, "The Machine" reached the quarter-finals in Blackpool no less than ten times in a row.

Moreover, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2015, Wade stood in the final, but only in 2007 did he get to lift the big cup. After 2015, Wade's performance at the World Matchplay went downhill considerably, where he only managed to reach the quarterfinals in 2019. So now Wade is in the last eight at the Winter Gardens for the 12th time. He did so by first beating Danny Noppert 10-5, followed by defending champion Nathan Aspinall 11-8.

The clash between the English arrowsmiths is one between two totally different types of players. Smith is the fanatical hard hitter, while the stoic Wade has to rely on his good finishes. It will be important for Wade to stay close to his compatriot in terms of scoring. If that happens, he will have to step it up a notch, because looking at the scoring averages of both players, the difference is quite large. Smith averages 113.11 points per turn in the first three innings of a leg, compared to 100.27 for Wade. So that means Smith averages nearly 40 more points in the first three innings than Wade.

The head-to-head is 6-2 in favor of Wade, but this score is somewhat biased. 'The Machine' won the first six matches between them from 2006 to 2018. Smith then managed his first win over Wade in 2019. In the past five years, the two Englishmen only met once and that encounter was also won by Smith.

Before the start of the tournament, there was really no doubt that Luke Humphries was going to make at least the quarterfinals. That high expectation was convincingly fulfilled by 'Cool Hand Luke'.

In the first round, he pulverized strong-playing rookie Ricardo Pietreczko 10-4 thanks to an average of 108.76. Then the reigning world champion added a second 100+ average in the second round. At the last sixteen, Stephen Bunting was defeated 11-7. In that match, Humphries averaged 102.34 points per turn.

The World Matchplay should be the next tournament Luke Humphries can start ticking off on his record. With a semifinal place in 2023, 'Cool Hand Luke' was already close to his final breakthrough last year. That finally came a few months later at the World Grand Prix, and then Humphries also won the Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals and the World Darts Championship.

In recent months, only one player stopped Humphries in the final of a ranking major and that is the very player who faces him Thursday night. In the final of the UK Open in March, Dimitri van den Bergh beat him 11-10.

The Belgian came out strongest in the piece of the draw that included Raymond van Barneveld. However, the Dutchman went down in the first round against Jonny Clayton. After beating Martin Schindler 10-6 in the first round, Van den Bergh dealt with Clayton (11-5) in the last sixteen.

Van den Bergh boasts an outstanding record at the World Matchplay, the tournament he won on his debut in 2020. A year later, he was in the final again, but then Van den Bergh had to acknowledge his superiority to Peter Wright. In 2022, he made it to the semifinals, while in 2023 the second round was the finish line.

Obviously Humphries is the absolute top favorite to get through this match, but the world number one will have to be on hand to deal with the often slowing game of his Belgian opponent. Humphries previewed this by saying in a preview that he has enough experience to deal with the slow game of "The Dreammaker. The mutual balance is well in the Englishman's favor. He won 10 of the previous 16 previous encounters.

Ross Smith v James Wade

Luke Humphries v Dimitri Van den Bergh