By Sarah Leaver in Blackpool
SEMI FINAL 1: JAMES WADE vs JOHNNY CLAYTON
James “The Machine” Wade took first blood in his semi-final against Johnny Clayton at the Winter Gardens, before being pegged back by Clayton soon after.
But the man from Aldershot refused to fold, taking the next two legs with a stunning 161-checkout, finishing on the bullseye. Clayton halved the deficit just prior to the first break but Wade began to steamroll The Ferret in the second mini session, leading seven legs to three at the second break.
Despite a lacklustre starting performance from Clayton, he managed to pull one leg back with a terrific 161-checkout, and like Wade’s previous finish, also ending on the bull.
The world number nine continued to prosper, with an average of 104.59 and a five-leg benefit going into the fourth mini session but had many missed opportunities to get the job done earlier, missing numerous doubles.
Heading into the final mini session, Clayton had to find something to help him win some legs back, but Wade remained relentless, getting himself two legs from the final against either Luke Littler or Josh Rock, both of which could break his record for the youngest player to win the World Matchplay.
However, the Welshman refused to settle for what seemed to be an inevitable loss, winning four straight legs to bring the tie to 16-14 and put more pressure on Wade.
In an exciting turn of events, the momentum heavily shifted in The Ferrets favour, coming from 16-10 down to level the tie 16-16, forcing overtime in the first semi-final.
Wade hits another stunning 161-finish to give himself the advantage in overtime, but a lot of back-and-forth between the pair saw the match reach the 38th leg, before a missed chance from Clayton gave Wade the perfect opportunity to take the match 20-18.
SEMI FINAL 2: JOSH ROCK vs LUKE LITTLER
The second semi-final saw Josh Rock have his dream start against close friend Luke Littler, taking the first five legs without any pressure from the 18-year-old.
Although, after the first break the momentum quickly shifted towards the Warrington man, and with both players on nine-darters, similar to Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen at the 2023 World Championship final, and Littler was the one to hit the nine in the most spectacular fashion.
Littler held throw at 7-4, looking to catch up to his opponent, but struggled with his doubles – only hitting four out of a possible 19 by the 13th leg.
However, finding the bullseye posed no issue to Littler, allowing him to come within three legs of Rock.
The momentum shifted quickly between the two youngsters, with Littler winning a leg, then Rock, but The Nuke ramped up the pressure and levelled the match at 9-9, before turning the tie around to lead 11-9.
The teenager then began to steamroll Rock, taking a four-leg advantage over the Northern Irishman and edging closer and closer to the final.
However, an astonishing leg from Rock capped with a 170-finish put the 24-year-old right back in the fight.
Littler’s performance continued to thrive, polishing off the game with a 17-14 victory to set up a final with previous Matchplay champion James Wade.
EDITORS PICKS:
- Things You Missed: World Matchplay Darts Quarter-Finals
- World Matchplay 2025: Day 7 – Luke Littler through to Semi-Final after intense showdown
- “The Youngsters are Boring!” – Gary Anderson takes jab at new generation: ‘always on their phones’
- “Van Gerwen out Early” – 5 Bold Predictions: 2025 World Match Play Darts