2023 Betfred World Matchplay Day Seven Preview

Nathan Aspinall and Joe Cullen made it into the Semi Finals last night, and we have two spots which will be decided on Friday evening at the Winter Gardens.

None of tonight’s players have competed in a World Matchplay Semi Final before, with all four looking to create their own history on the famous stage

Tournament Favourite Will Face The Heat

After the top four players in the World departed Luke Humphries was made bookies favourite, and he will be looking to get one step closer to lifting the trophy on Friday night when he takes on Damon Heta.

We had contrasting wins in the last round from Humphries and Heta, with Cool Hand coming through a darting battle which he won 14-12 against Dirk van Duijvenbode .

Damon Heta during the Betfred PDC World Matchplay Darts Tournament, World Matchplay 2023 at The Winter Gardens, Blackpool on 16 July 2023

Things were a lot easier for Damon Heta, who eased past an under par Brendan Dolan 11-1 in round two, after defeating Josh Rock in his opener

Damon Heta hasn’t beat Luke Humphries and once the Ashes Themed walk on is complete, he will be focussed on changing that record and book his place in the last four.

Ferret Faces Searle

Jonny Clayton will take on Ryan Searle in the opening game of night seven at the 2023 Betfred World Matchplay

Ryan Searle leads the head to heads between the two players, however Clayton will take a lot of confidence from his 11-6 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the last round, in which he averaged just short of 102.

Jonny Clayton Defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh in the Second Round of the 2023 Betfred World Matchplay

That was a stark contrast to his first performance in which he averaged 24 points less but, this is a results business and Jonny will not care what his numbers are, as long its 16 legs won.

For Heavy Metal who averaged 105 in his opener, before dropping to 95 in round two against Peter Wright, but in both wins Searle has looked at ease on the Blackpool stage.

Winning this match and tournament would mean so much to both players but for very different reasons and it makes this Quarter Final a very intriguing battle.

Friday July 21 (2000 BST)

2x Quarter-Finals

Ryan Searle v Jonny Clayton

Damon Heta v Luke Humphries

Best of 31 legs