Gary Anderson and Dimitri van den Bergh to contest Betfred World Matchplay final

The £700,000 tournament will conclude on Sunday as Anderson challenges for his second title in three years after seeing off Michael Smith 18-16 in a tie-break.

Van den Bergh, meanwhile, became the first debutant to reach the final since James Wade in 2006 with a 17-15 defeat of Glen Durrant.

Anderson lifted the Phil Taylor Trophy in 2018 and remains on course for another success in the tournament after surviving Smith's fightback.

The Scot had opened up a 14-9 lead, only for Smith to move ahead for the first time with six straight legs, before Anderson regained his composure to close out victory.

A tight opening five legs saw neither player able to break throw before Anderson broke twice as he moved into an 8-3 lead, defying a 120 finish from Smith with some clinical doubling.

Smith responded strongly with four successive legs, and after the pair traded 12-darters, the St Helens man levelled at 9-9.

Anderson, though, fired in a 13-darter to regain the lead before breaking for an 11-9 advantage and then winning the next three legs to move five clear of his rival.

Smith produced a five-leg burst to turn the game around as he drew level at 14-14 before punishing four missed doubles from the 2018 champion to move ahead for the first time.

Anderson took out 116 to level after Smith missed the bull to move two legs clear, and the Scot then punished another miss as he regained the edge at 16-15.

Smith landed two 180s and finished 81 to level, but Anderson took out 44 and double 18 in the next two to ensure his return to the final.

Van den Bergh's tie with Durrant followed a similar pattern to Friday's quarter-final win over Adrian Lewis as the Belgian eventually took a 17-15 victory.

Durrant began the match with a 151 checkout on his way to an early 3-1 lead before van den Bergh took four straight legs to move ahead.

Durrant hit back with a 10-dart leg and a 104 checkout for a 12-darter, but crucially missed a bullseye to level before seeing van den Bergh move into a 9-5 lead.

Three straight legs cut the gap to one, but Durrant then saw two darts at double 18 to level go begging as van den Bergh edged away again on double 10, before winning the next two for a 12-8 cushion.

Durrant, as he did in the quarter-finals, dug in to find a second wind as he won five of the next six legs to level before regaining the lead at 14-13.

The next two were shared as Durrant edged 15-14 up, but van den Bergh posted double eight to level, punished his opponent's miss at the bull to regain the lead at 16-15, and finally posted double 16 to secure victory.