2023 Betfred World Matchplay Day Eight Preview – Semi Final Saturday

2023 Betfred World Matchplay Day Eight Preview – Semi Final Saturday

One of the best days in the darting calendar is upon us, with the Final two days of Betfred World Matchplay and the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay

The focus today is solely on four players who are looking to take one step closer to lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy

Asp Takes On Rockstar

Nathan Aspinall will take on Joe Cullen in Saturday’s Betfred World Matchplay semi-finals, after the pair won through enthralling ties against Chris Dobey and Daryl Gurney respectively on Thursday.

Aspinall produced the performance of the night on Thursday to defeat Dobey 16-12, producing a sensational mid-game burst to move through to his first semi-final at the Empress Ballroom.

Cullen also won through to his first World Matchplay semi-final with a hard-fought win over Gurney, who paid the price for a disastrous start to the contest.

Cullen was dominant in the early stages against Gurney and even following a mid game blip, he was able to seal the win and set up an intriguing tie against Nathan Aspinall.

Asp and Rockstar have only met once on TV and it was the Aspinall who got over the line in that game.

Emotional Ferret Faces Cool Hand

Clayton will take on sixth seed Luke Humphries in a fascinating last four showdown at the Winter Gardens tonight, after producing a finishing masterclass to see off Ryan Searle in the quarter-finals.

The Welshman landed six ton-plus checkouts in his 16-12 success against Searle – including three bullseye finishes – converting 62% of his attempts at double to cap off a stunning performance.

Clayton also produced 126, 156 and 170 finishes in his second round win over 2020 champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, having accounted for Germany’s number one Gabriel Clemens in round one.

Humphries, meanwhile, is the highest-ranked player left in the competition, having followed up a first round demolition of Jose de Sousa with battling wins over Dirk van Duijvenbode and Damon Heta.

The 28-year-old survived a match dart against Van Duijvenbode, before defying a spirited comeback from Australian number one Heta to progress to his first World Matchplay semi-final.

Clayton has the only win on TV against these to and a win tonight would mean so much to him and his family

2023 Betfred World Matchplay

Saturday July 22 (2000 BST)

Semi-Finals

Nathan Aspinall v Joe Cullen

Jonny Clayton v Luke Humphries

Best of 33 Legs