2023/24 PDC World Darts Championship: Semi Final Preview

We have just four players remaining in the 2023/24 PaddyPower PDC World Darts Championship.

After the drama of quarter final day, both semi finals will take place at Alexandra Palace, London to determine who will compete for the Sid Waddell Trophy on Wednesday evening.

Only one player in the field has experience of making the final, let alone lifting the title. The other three are bidding to make the sport’s showcase occasion for the first time.

Here’s all you need to know ahead of the two semi finals of this year’s PaddyPower PDC World Darts Championship.

Cross plays Littler in first semi final

Having reached two televised finals in 2023 and won two World Series events, Rob Cross is looking to make it a hat-trick for the season.

He takes on a player in Luke Littler looking to emulate Voltage’s success in 2018 by winning the PDC World Darts Championship on debut. 

The two came through contrasting games yesterday. Cross was 4-0 down to an on-form Chris Dobey, but became the first player to ever comeback from 4-0 down to win a game at the Worlds, let alone a quarter final.

Littler on the other hand continued his amazing run, averaging over 100 yet again in a 5-1 demolition of Brendan Dolan to become the youngest semi finalist in PDC history.

This will be the first time that the two have squared off, but Littler is currently averaging the highest in the tournament for the four players that are left in with Cross just behind him.

The 16-year old Littler has continued to make the Worlds look easy during his incredible run to the last four, but Cross will no doubt be his toughest test yet and has his sights on regaining the Sid Waddell Trophy.

So, will The Nuke move into the final? Or will Voltage finally pull the plug on this Cinderella story?

Williams v Humphries completes line up

After Cross and Littler settle the first semi final, it will be Scott Williams and Luke Humphries’ turn to do battle for the other final spot.

Williams took advantage of an out of sorts Michael van Gerwen yesterday, causing the shock of the tournament to win 5-3.

While, after coming through two absolute battles, Humphries extended his winning streak to 17 straight games with his best performance of the tournament in the last eight, dispatching Dave Chisnall 5-1.

With Dobey losing yesterday, Williams is the man left in the field who’s hit the most 180s with 37. The next best? Humphries, with 36. These two have met just three times in their careers, including at last year’s Grand Slam, where Cool Hand beat Shaggy in the group stages. The other two occasions have been on the floor this year, where the record is 1-1.

Humphries has won three of the last four TV events, including the only other set play event in the World Grand Prix which was his first in the PDC. Can he cap off a remarkable few months by reaching his first ever PDC World Darts Championship Final and become world number one in the process?

Or will Shaggy defeat the number three seed coming into this event, a day after beating the number two seed, and make his maiden PDC TV final?

PaddyPower PDC World Darts Championship Semi Final Schedule of Play

Tuesday 2 January 2024

Evening Session (1930 GMT)

2x Semi Finals

Rob Cross v Luke Littler
Scott Williams v Luke Humphries