Schedule World Matchplay 2024: Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, James Wade & Luke Humphries face off Saturday night in semifinals

Four men remain in the race for overall victory at the 2024 World Matchplay. On Saturday night, Luke Humphries, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith will battle for a spot in the final of the prestigious tournament in Blackpool. Read our preview for Saturday night's World Matchplay semifinals right here.

The format is a little longer in the semifinals compared to the quarterfinals. Seventeen legs will have to be won to reach the next round. However, this is subject to a difference of at least two legs at that point. If the score is 16-16 after 32 legs, then an extension will be started. If the score is still tied after six additional legs, a sudden-death leg will be played.

Who can still knock off Luke Humphries? That is the big question during the final weekend of the World Matchplay. The reigning world champion started the tournament as the big favourite for the overall victory and for now, "Cool Hand Luke" is more than living up to that status. In the first round, he pulverized strong-playing debutant 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 as Stephen Bunting was defeated 11-7. In that match, Humphries averaged 102.34 points per turn.

In the last eight, Humphries struggled with Dimitri van den Bergh for a long time. 'The Dreammaker' did not let Humphries get into his rhythm and was able to keep up with the world number one for much of the match. However, Van den Bergh made the mistake in the 22nd leg when the score was 11-10 in the Englishman's favour by provoking Humphries. The Belgian made a gesture that did not please Humphries and that unleashed the fire in the world champion's body.

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 prior to a final at a ranking major. That was James Wade, who beat Humphries 10-6 in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. Wade, of all people, can once again bar Humphries' way to a major final.

Wade is currently reviving old times in Blackpool. Wade was by now due for a good performance at the World Matchplay, which used to be surely his most successful tournament. In his first ten participations from 2006 to 2015, 'The Machine' reached the quarter-finals at the Winter Gardens no less than ten times in a row. Moreover, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2015, Wade played in the final, but only in 2007 did he get to lift the trophy. After 2015, Wade's performance at the World Matchplay went downhill considerably, where he only managed to reach the quarterfinals in 2019. Now Wade is in the semifinals at the World Matchplay for the ninth time in his career.

He did so by first beating Danny Noppert 10-5 and then beating defending champion Nathan Aspinall 11-8. Wade played his best match in the quarterfinals against Ross Smith. In that match he acted like Wade in optima forma by hurting Smith several times with well-timed two-dart and three-dart finishes. Wade turned a 2-4 deficit into a 10-6 lead and eventually won 16-10. If Wade is able to repeat his scoring prowess from the match against Smith against Humphries, then 'Cool Hand Luke' will have a huge job to do against Wade, assuming that Wade often manages to take his chances anyway. In the head-to-head, Humphries leads 11-5, also noting that Wade mainly recorded his victories over Humphries when the career of 'Cool Hand Luke' was still in its infancy. Of the last nine meetings between them, Wade won only one.

Which Michael will throw his way to the final at the World Matchplay? Both players have actually progressed further than initially thought. Van Gerwen was paired with Luke Littler in the draw. Along with Humphries, the teenage sensation was the big favourite to take the title. However, the Dutchman proved the bookies wrong by beating the 17-year-old Englishman 10-6. Moreover, Van Gerwen ended up playing another good match with an average of 102 and a finishing percentage of 43 percent. In his second round against Joe Cullen, Van Gerwen was a lot more shaky, but he did show that his B-game is on the rise. The 35-year-old from Vlijmen was ahead 4-1 and 9-5 against Cullen, but for a moment the game seemed to slip out of his hands and Cullen returned to 10-8. At the key moment, however, Van Gerwen was there again and drew the match 11-8. In the quarterfinals against Andrew Gilding, 'Mighty Mike' played his worst match to date, but Gilding was still beaten 16-10.

Van Gerwen already has plenty of experience playing semifinals at the World Matchplay. It is the seventh time 'Mighty Mike' has reached the last four in Blackpool. Three times that resulted in the final victory, but for a fourth title he has to win two more matches. Van Gerwen's next opponent is Michael Smith. The 2023 world champion started the tournament with a victory over his mentor Gary Anderson. 'Bullyboy' had to get going for a while, but after falling behind 0-4, Smith switched up quite a few levels. He conceded only one more leg in the remainder of the match, and thanks to an average of 102, a 10-5 final score was on the scoreboard. In the second round, Smith won 11-9 over Chris Dobey, who had already thwarted him three times at the majors in the past calendar year. In the last eight, Smith won surprisingly easily 16-17 over Rob Cross.

The Englishman is in the semifinals for the third time in Blackpool. In 2019, he lost in the final to Cross, while a year later the tournament ended for him in the semifinals. It will be the 64th official showdown between the Dutchman and the Englishman. The mutual balance is 46-17 in favor of Van Gerwen. This year the two world class players have already faced each other six times, with Van Gerwen winning five times.

Luke Humphries v James Wade

Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith