Friday night of the World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool comprises the final two quarter-finals.
Luke Littler lost in round one to Michael van Gerwen, who faces Andrew Gilding on the iconic Empress Ballroom stage on Friday and is seeking to win this title for a fourth time.
World Matchplay quarter-finals
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Michael van Gerwen is in a different class to Andrew Gilding and the Dutch darting legend could make short work of his limited opponent. MVG, refreshed from a family holiday in Ibiza, has turned up in Blackpool this week in a vibrant mood.
Seeing off Littler in a high-class round-one clash provided a huge injection of confidence for Van Gerwen, who used all his Matchplay experience and stage comfort to unsettle his younger opponent.
Mighty Mike averaged 101.93 in a 10-6 victory over Littler, then defeated another tricky opponent, Joe Cullen, by an 11-8 margin in round two. Van Gerwen, a three-time world champion, can be trusted to cover a -4.5 legs handicap against Gilding given the length of the quarter-final matches.
The last-eight ties are best of 31 legs, so Van Gerwen needs to win 16-11 or better to cover the handicap. The fact Gilding stunned the Green Machine in the final of the UK Open last year is a bonus for MvG Matchplay backers – that 11-10 defeat 16 months ago means the favourite should arrive at the oche with full focus on Friday night.
Gilding, a 53-year-old who has been struggling badly with his technique this year, could easily fail to reach double-figures against Van Gerwen.
Gilding has never reached this stage of the Matchplay before and the occasion seems likely to overwhelm the man known as Goldfinger. He lost 10-0 to Adrian Lewis on his first visit to the Winter Gardens a decade ago – and another painful night could be in store.
The other Friday-night quarter-final can go the way of Michael Smith, who is determined to add the World Matchplay title to his already impressive CV. Bully Boy, who won the Grand Slam of Darts in 2022 and the World Championship in 2023, was Matchplay runner-up in 2019.
With the experience of winning premier events since that agonising 2019 defeat, Smith can be expected to approach the latter stages of this Matchplay in assured fashion. The 33-year-old is difficult to resist as an 11/10 outsider.
Smith faces the man who beat him in the 2019 Matchplay final – Rob Cross. Voltage was full of self-belief back then, having won the 2018 World Championship, but Smith may approach the oche with more swagger this time.
Smith and Luke Humphries won the World Cup for England at the end of last month – and they have both been riding the crest of a wave.
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