Overview
- Luke Littler progressed to the semi-finals with a 16-7 quarter-final win over Josh Rock reported on Thursday, completing a dominant display that included 17 180s and a 109.57 match average.
- Littler’s tournament form has been exceptional, featuring a nine-dart finish against Nathan Aspinall, a reported 113.68 average in that match, and consecutive matches averaging around 109, which has pushed him to market favourite status.
- Dirk van Duijvenbode also reached his first World Matchplay semi-final by beating Gary Anderson 16-13 on Thursday after earlier eliminating Michael van Gerwen in the tournament.
- The semi-final line-up now features Littler versus van Duijvenbode on Saturday, with the other semi to be decided from Friday’s quarter-finals between Gian van Veen and James Wade and between Ross Smith and Gerwyn Price.
- The World Matchplay runs July 18–26 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool with expanded prize money and live Sky Sports coverage, and media reports note a personal retirement remark attributed to Littler as a reported quote rather than a confirmed plan.