World Matchplay: Glen Durrant beats Vincent van der Voort in epic quarter-final
Watch coverage of Saturday's semi-finals between Gary Anderson and Michael Smith and Glen Durrant v Dimitri Van den Bergh from 8pm on Sky Sports Action
Saturday 25 July 2020 18:18, UK
There will be a new name in a PDC major ranking final after Glen Durrant and Dimitri Van den Bergh came through Friday night's quarter-finals in Milton Keynes to set up a World Matchplay semi-final showdown.
Durrant was forced to dig deep, coming from 10-5 and 12-8 down to beat Dutchman Vincent van der Voort 18-16 in a nerveshredding final quarter-final at the Marshall Arena, while Belgium's Van den Bergh produced a classy display to dispatch two-time world champion Adrian Lewis.
It means that from the carnage of the bottom half of the draw, Durrant and Van den Bergh will duke it out for the right to reach a first PDC major final with the winner facing either Gary Anderson or Michael Smith in Sunday's final.
Duzza's win was overshadowed by a flashpoint at the end of the match when Van der Voort appeared to aim words in the direction of match referee Kirk Bevins which appeared to be in relation to an incident that had seen the Dutchman throw a dart at the board underarm.
But Durrant won't mind as he marches into a showdown with Van den Bergh, the two-time world youth champion who produced a controlled and impressive performance to end a resurgent Lewis' week's work.
Duzza fights back to to see off Van der Voort
Three-time BDO world champion Durrant, a semi-finalist in Blackpool at this tournament last year, has enjoyed a terrific 18 months since moving across from the BDO and will head into a fourth PDC major semi-final.
However he had to produce a typical display of grit and determination to overhaul the quickfire Van der Voort who had stormed into an early 4-1 lead on the back of some impressing finishing.
Every time Durrant drew close, Van der Voort put on the afterburners to pull away. Twice the Dutchman punished an errant Durrant who was unable to find the big finishes that have become his trademark, and Van der Voort stretched his advantage to 8-4.
Nothing was going right for Duzza. As he retrieved his darts, the point snapped forcing a change of board, and while he claimed the first leg on the new set-up, Van der Voort hit back with the next two. A classy 98-finish giving him a break of throw and the biggest lead of the match
A first 100+ finish closed the gap to three before the drama really began. With Durrant poised on double 16, Van der Voort needed to take out double 18 to maintain his four-leg lead, he missed four at the target and was punished when Duzza pinned double one.
Remarkably it got worse in the 22nd leg. Van der Voort's nine missed darts at double were to prove pivotal and ended with him tossing a dart underarm toward the board.
Duzza, who missed five himself, pinned double one to draw within two and then punished two more missed doubles from his opponent to draw within one for the first time since the opening leg of the match.
The Dutchman finally ended his doubling frustration to claim the 24th leg while Duzza hit back with his best leg of the match, a 10-darter to make it 13-12. With Van der Voort 14-12 in front he missed a dart to go within one of the finish line and Duzza's finishing had gone up a notch as he levelled at 14-14.
A brilliant 92 on the bullseye gave Durrant the lead for the first time in the contest and within one of the finishing line. But Van der Voort drew level, forcing the tie into overtime. The pair couldn't be separated until Duzza got the crucial break to seal a remarkable evening's work.
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Dimitri dances into maiden semi-final
Van den Bergh ended Lewis' hopes of a return to a major ranking final after a three-year absence by making a major breakthrough himself - his 16-12 victory meaning the Belgian is into the last four of a major televised tournament for the first time.
Having arrived on the stage with his trademark dance routine, Van den Bergh wasted little time in settling into his surroundings. An early break of throw for the Dreammaker got him off to the perfect start, but Jackpot, Matchplay runner-up in 2013, hit back with a brilliant 102 finish to get on the board.
Van den Bergh upped the ante, firing in a spellbinding 164 finish to break throw for a second time, before claiming each of the next three legs for a 6-1 lead.
Lewis finally stopped the rot, responding to a missed dart at bullseye from Van den Berg to take out 161 in style. Rather than kickstart Lewis, it gave his opponent the chance to push on as Van den Bergh claimed four of the next six legs, including a second three-figure finish, to turn a 6-2 lead into a 10-4 advantage.
Jackpot finally found a groove in a three-leg burst that featured a 12-dart break of throw just after the third interval.
However the four-time major champion's hope of an unlikely comeback were halted as Van den Bergh moved to within touching distance of the winning post.
More missed darts cost Lewis as a composed Van den Bergh moved into a 14-8 lead, and while a dogged Lewis refused to give up, he couldn't do enough to claw back the advantage forged in the early exchanges.
Van den Bergh claimed the two legs he needed to get over the line and celebrate a landmark moment in his young career.
Darts is back on Sky Sports in July and August, with nine days of coverage from the World Matchplay followed by the six-day Premier League resumption which gets underway on Tuesday August 25.
