Snakebite will face Gerwyn Price in the semi-final while Aspinall can look forward to a date with world no 1 Michael van Gerwen
Sunday 29 December 2019 23:11, UK
Peter Wright held off Luke Humphries to reach the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship, while Nathan Aspinall also progressed.
Wright remained on course for his first appearance in the final since 2014 after crushing the hopes of Humphries with a 5-3 victory, averaging a superb 105.86 and hitting 170, 161 and 124 along the way.
Aspinall made it through to the semi-finals at Alexandra Palace for the second successive year after winning 5-3 against Dimitri Van den Bergh, despite a spirited late fightback from the Belgian.
'Snakebite' opened the first set like a man possessed, averaging 115.35 and nailing 'The Big Fish' as well as a 124 on the bullseye to take it 3-1.
The Scotsman, who suffered from a bout of dizziness during his tense victory over Jeffrey de Zwaan on Saturday, continued his onslaught by sweeping through the second set 3-0 to double his advantage.
Humphries pulled one set back to huge relief after Wright wired double 12 for a 144 checkout, but the 49-year-old rattled 'Cool Hand' Luke with a blistering 161 to break in the fourth set before an 11-dart leg handed him a 3-1 advantage with a 110.27 average.
He won the fifth set 3-1 to go within one of victory, averaging an incredible 110 with seven 180s and 54 per cent on the doubles.
Back came Humphries to clinch his second set to trail by two and keep his hopes alive. And the 24-year-old made it six out of seven legs to move to within one set of levelling the contest as Wright began to wobble.
However, seventh-ranked Wright found the treble with more consistency in the ninth set. He missed his first match dart at bullseye but he nailed double two to complete a 5-3 success.
Wright, who ended with 12 maximums and 49 per cent on doubles, will take on world No 3 Gerwyn Price who was too strong for three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant with a 5-1 victory on Sunday night that sets up a repeat of the Grand Slam of Darts final in Wolverhampton in November.
Aspinall could face reigning champion Michael van Gerwen in a blockbuster semi-final after he overcame a spirited fightback from Van den Bergh to make it through to the final four.
Seven costly missed darts at doubles from Aspinall set the tone in the opening set as Van den Bergh wrapped it up in consecutive legs. The UK Open champion averaged close to 108 in the next set to take it 3-1 and level the match.
'The Asp' struck with the only ton-plus finish of the match with a 122 on tops as he moved 2-1 ahead having claimed six out of eight legs with five 180s and a 99 average.
Van den Bergh hit back in the fourth set with an early break after Aspinall missed tops for a 120 checkout before converting 85. But the Stockport thrower punished the Belgian for missing three set darts by mounting a fightback to win three in a row and open up a two-set cushion at 3-1.
Aspinall recovered from 2-1 down in the fifth set with some clutch finishing to move one set away from a spot in the last four, but he began to fumble when throwing for the match and that allowed 'The Dreammaker' to close the gap to 4-2 in sets and keep the contest alive, despite a total of 30 missed darts at doubles in the match.
Aspinall suddenly felt the heat coming from Van den Bergh, who rattled the 28-year-old by nailing double 16 with his last dart in hand to close to within one set.
But after Aspinall levelled the eighth set at 2-2 he struck with a third consecutive 13-darter to seal the win and guarantee a spot in the world's top 10.
"I was so nervous, I don't know what happened there. He let me off and I took my chances," said Aspinall. "The occasion got to me and I didn't play very well but I'm so happy to get through."
He added: "Give me a shot at Michael (Van Gerwen). I'll show you how good I am."
He will get his wish after MvG dispatched Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas in the evening's opening quarter-final.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. Coverage of the World Darts Championship continues on Sky Sports Darts throughout the tournament with Sunday's evening session kicking off at 7pm.
