2024 Betfred World Matchplay Day Seven – Smith & Van Gerwen Progress
2024 Betfred World Matchplay Day Seven
2024 Betfred World Matchplay Semi Final fixtures are confirmed. We knew that Luke Humphries would be playing James Wade, and tonight we had confirmation that Michael van Gerwen will take on Michael Smith in the second Semi Final.
Van Gerwen Gets Revenge On Gilding
Michael van Gerwen got revenge following UK Open defeat last year to Goldfinger by defeating him 16-8 in the opening game of the evening
Andrew Gilding hit the first big checkout of the game, and it only took until the third leg until he had taken out a 148. MvG fired back with one of his own in leg five, which was for the first break of the game and the 117 gave him the early advantage.
Goldfinger did find a break back straight away and that was the start of a four leg winning run which including another ton topper, this time a 114 checkout.
MvG did find a hold, but the concerns on the outer-ring were very visible for The Green Machine and four breaks of throw and MvG being on 22% after fourteen legs, and 8-6 behind.
It was a moment of magic from Michael to start his run, this time it was a 136 checkout for Van Gerwen and which he made it six legs on the spin to give himself a 12-8 lead going into the final break.
The run of straight legs for MvG stopped at eight legs and a 14-8 lead, Gilding stopped the rot and made it back to back legs with 132 checkout on the bull.
That was the last of Gilding and MvG won the two more legs he needed and secured a place in the last four. Double Trouble will be a concern for Michael who was under 30% for the match.
Bully Boy Ousts Cross
A rematch of 2019 Betfred World Matchplay Final saw Rob Cross face Michael Smith, and this time it was Bully Boy who got the victory.
Bully Boy raced out the blocks and a night of big checkouts continued with Smith with it only taking him two legs to find a 134 checkout which helped him as part of a four leg lead.
Smith continued in cruise control early on, and after Cross winning leg five, session two played out the same way, with a ton plus checkout for Smith (101) and session win of 4-1 giving him an 8-2 lead.
The Voltage struggles on doubles continued into session three, however he came off slightly better than his previous sessions winning 2 out of five but with a deficit of seven legs it seemed to much for the favourite in this game.
After session four the finishing line was within touching distance. He made it four wins out of four in regards to sessions and the 3-2 win meant Bully Boy didn’t have much more to do to complete the victory.
Rob Cross had a resurgence winning three out of the next four, but Michael Smith found a crucial double five to move one leg away from victory, and it was the same double which was needed for Smith to secure the victory.
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Friday July 19
Quarter Final Results
Michael van Gerwen 16-10 Andrew Gilding
Michael Smith v Rob Cross
Saturday July 20
Semi Final Schedule
Luke Humphries v James Wade
Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith
