Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price advance to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts

World number one, Luke Humphries, faced Michael Smith in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Slam of Darts as Gerwyn Price took on rapid Ricky Evans in Wolverhampton. The winner of each tie would face the other in Sundays’ finals day.

Ricky Evans froze out as Gerwyn Price advances to Grand Slam semi-finals

The quarter finals commenced in Wolverhampton as Ricky Evans faced Gerwyn Price.

Rapid Ricky finished second in group D, before clinching a 10-9 victory against Luke Woodhouse in the second round. The Englishman showed consistency throughout the first knockout stage match up, averaging 93.52 and checking out once in every two attempts.

The iceman comes into the tie after topping the same group in the early stages, despite losing to Evans (5-4) in the process. Price bounced back from the early defeat to win three on the bounce, including a 5-0 win over James Wade, before getting the better of Martin Schindler in the second round with a comfortable 10-6 win. The Welshman averaged over 95 in each of the games prior to the quarter-final, he was looking to continue this form and book his place in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam for a fourth time.

Evans opened his maximums account in typically quick fashion, hitting two 180s in the opening leg, yet Price had enough in return to take the opener. The maximums continued to flow but the efficiency in the finishing department was not present. Both players missed several leg darts, with Evans seeing seven attempts at the double begging.

Price, the world number 14, took advantage of this double trouble, finding checkouts of his own to take the first four legs. The Welshman had a dart at double seven to complete a whitewash opening session in the first quarter-final but could not find the red on this occasion. Evans returned to the oche and took out 60 to go into the interval with a leg to his name, yet plenty of work to do to get back into the match.

The Englishman started the session with a convincing leg victory, clawing back to within two of Gezzy. However, Price struck back with some impressive treble hitting, throwing seven perfect darts, before wrapping the leg up in 12 darts to reimburse the three-leg gap.

Evans looked to provide some resistance, averaging 100, but was let down by his double hitting once more, as Price took a 7-3 lead into the second break, despite missing more attempts at doubles in the opening 10 legs than his opponent.

The third mini session saw blows exchange from both players, with the majority coming from rapid Ricky. Exploding back into the game, the world number 46 won consecutive legs for the second time, not letting the scoreboard get away.

With the score at 7-5, Price continued to provide entertainment to the crowd, celebrating his hold of throw as though he had won the match, as he so often does. The crowd getting livelier by the dart.

Despite the celebrations, Price remained focused on the task at hand, maintaining his three-leg cushion at the next break – requiring seven more legs for the win.

The Iceman took control from the start of the next session, allowing Evans to take just three more legs in the tie. Price broke the throw of Evans twice in this period, holding his own each time of asking. The match concluded as Gezzy checked out an impressive 101, the score finishing 16-9.

Booking his spot in the semi-finals, Price will be looking to claim his fourth World Grand Slam title in the coming days.

Luke Humphries keeps his cool to overcome Michael Smith

The second quarter-final match saw world number one, Luke Humphries take on former world champion Michael Smith, the winner set to meet Gerwyn Price in the next round.

Cool Hand Luke approached this quarter-final match, holding an invincible record throughout the tournament so far. Taking out Nathan Aspinall and tonight’s opponent, Michael Smith, Humphries topped group A before demolishing Jurjen van der Velde in the second round. A serious set of performances, taking into consideration an ongoing back injury which nearly resulted in a withdrawal from the competition.

Michael Smith was well aware of the challenge he would be facing in Luke Humphries, after the pairs match up in the group stage. Despite falling to a 5-3 defeat, Smith was able to claim victories in both of his other matches – proving enough to book his spot in the knockout stages. Chris Dobey was awaiting Bully Boy in Wolverhampton, with an astonishing match being played out. Smith was on the right end of 18 missed match darts between the pair, scraping a 10-9 win to set up a repeat of the group stage game against Luke Humphries.

Humphries, who spent the day receiving physiotherapy at the Wolverhampton Wanderers training facilities, looked unfazed by his lingering back injury to cruise into a 4-0 lead. Cool hand made light work of holding his throw, whilst dominating the legs in which Smith had the darts.

Michael Smith looked in serious trouble in the early stages, being denied even a single opportunity to aim for the double. Similar to Ricky Evans in the previous match, Bully Boy managed to get a tally on the board, taking a convincing victory in the final leg going into the first interval.

The domination continued from Humphries after the break, averaging upwards of 115 over the five legs. Smith continued with the chase, however, could not keep up with the outstanding scoring from the worlds’ best. Chasing the game with the scoreboard displaying a 7-3 lead, Smith needed to showcase some power scoring to work his way back into the match.

After the break, a phenomenal leg of darts commenced, with both Englishmen striking six perfect darts to set up nine dart finishes. Bully Boy continued with perfection, leaving double twelve for a phenomenal checkout, however found himself just below the double.

Disappointed to miss out on the nine-darter, Smith got another opportunity at the oche as Humphries too could not achieve the feat. The world number 30 restored his focus before taking out double six, the kickstart of a crucial comeback.

The big man began to display consistency in his scoring, providing himself with chances of a checkout in each leg.

And checkout in each leg he did!

Smith won four consecutive legs to bring the score equal at seven legs each. A simply fantastic effort to work his way back into the game.

However, the class of the 2023 world-champion, Humphries, was to be shown in the final leg of the session as he provided resistance of his own to avoid a session whitewash. Taking out 138, Cool Hand Luke walked off the stage at the third break, maintaining his lead in the tie – although, now by just one leg.

The penultimate session was one way traffic, going in favour of Humphries. Clearly unimpressed with his performance in the previous session, Luke found the next gear in his game. In identical fashion to the beginning of the match, Humphries cruised through the first four legs without offering Smith an inch.

With the game looking beyond saveable, Smith won a crucial fifth leg in the session to avoid the lead increasing to a six-leg gap.

That would be all for Smith.

Humphries’ ruthlessness did not stop in the final session, winning four successive legs for a third time in the match. Immense scoring combined with relentless finishing proved too much for Michael Smith, despite positive signs from Bully Boy, looking to get back to his best.

Gerwyn Price awaits Humphries in the semi-final on Saturday night, a match up that looks to be a blockbuster in the making.

Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price advance to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts

Schedule of play

Friday 14 November (1910 GMT)

2x Quarter-finals

Ricky Evans 9-16 Gerwyn Price

Luke Humphries 16-8 Michael Smith

Saturday 15 November (1910 GMT)

2x Quarter-finals

Danny Noppert v Lukas Wenig

Luke Littler v Josh Rock