The bottom half of the 2019 World Matchplay draw is now the far stronger half following last night's action, with it consisting of 4 PDC majors among 3 of the players and a former shining light of the BDO who won 4 of their majors.
Said light of the BDO is also the one who's had the hardest run to get here as Stephen Bunting takes on fellow last 8 first-timer Rob Cross. The Bullet has definitely been through the wringer, playing 51 legs compared to Voltage's 29, but unusually for the St. Helens man renowned for being a heavy front runner, he's had to come from behind AND survive match darts on both occasions against Gerwyn Price and Ian White. However, he will need to start strongly against Cross who obliterated Chris Dobey and Krzysztof Ratajski with no trouble at all; Rob has averaged and finished at a far superior rate than Stephen, so this one could be a foregone conclusion.
The only non-Englishman in the last 4 will come from the fourth quarter-final as Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney takes on the sole player to make last year's QFs in "Scotland" #2 Peter Wright. Superchin has made games which should have been easy against Ricky Evans and Keegan Brown absolute struggles, winning by just 3 and 2 legs respectively thanks to a loss of focus in both games. A loss of focus against Snakebite will see him get torn apart as the midlife crisis clown is finally playing like he should be, with 100+ averages in both games against Vincent van der Voort and Simon Whitlock. The Ulsterman will seriously need to up his entire performance if he's to end the 20 match unbeaten run of the #1 form player in the PDC.
Coverage starts from 7:00pm UK time on Sky Sports Action.
>Tonight’s matches (Best of 31 legs) Rob "BAuLDtism" Cross (2) v BUNT MAN Snakeshite (6) v Daryl "Sweet C4-line" Gurney (3)
All matches must be won by 2 clear legs, with up to 5 extra legs played to decide a winner. If the match is tied after 5 extra legs, a final sudden death leg will be played.
I can't believe it but I'm rooting for Cross. It's best for the sport if he fulfills the potential he showed in the Worlds the year before last
Daniel Butler
Can't see anything other than a Cross/Wright semi.
Christopher Parker
>Boris is no different to Barry H, brutally truthfull, no one believed him, now the players, especially the BDO players, “we will never leave” making more money than they ever believed, know differently, and yet no thanks. Amazing.
THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX
This aged for about a 5 darts. Both played out of their skin there tbf. Sort of think Cross shaded the first game but that was tougher to call, quality stuff
So that D8 brings to a close one of the greatest Winter Gardens sessions as our final 4 are confirmed. One of them was as expected, the other less so.
Rob Cross made his third individual major semi-final in succession with a battling 16-14 success over a valiant Stephen Bunting. The Bullet broke in the opening leg but couldn't hold onto it, losing the next three legs before getting back into the game with Shanghai on 20s but missed six to hold as Voltage opened up a 2 leg lead for the first time. Five holds followed including a brilliant 170 before a missed D16 from Stephen saw Rob open up a 4 leg and then a 5 leg lead at 9-4. But that familiar scoreline sparked something in the former Lakeside champ who rattled off 6 of the next 7 legs to tie it up at 10-10. Eight holds later, the former PDC World champ slammed in a 180 and a 177 to put his opponent miles back in the leg and won it on D8 with a 102 average.
Daryl Gurney stunned Peter Wright to end the Scotsman's 20 match unbeaten run with a performance on par with his incredible Players Championship Finals performance against Michael van Gerwen. Like that match in Minehead, this all rested on winning the darts and Superchin worked wonders in the opening session, going ahead 3-1 (before being pegged back to 3-2) with a 108 average with Snakebite on 107. Despite his 105+ average Wright just could not get away from Gurney, going into the third session level at 5-5 and after breaking for the first leg of the third session didn't hold the advantage and went into the fourth session 8-7 down. Daryl then broke for 9-7 and 10-8 to re-establish a 2 leg lead but threw it away for another level game at 10-10. Seven holds followed before the key moment: a last dart in hand D16 for a 70 finish and a break for 15-13 punished Peter, whose scoring fell apart and he lost 16-13 with a 105 average to his opponent's 102; the Ulsterman significantly finished at 52% to his opponent's 39%.
