Wright recovery sets up Gurney semi-final

Daryl Gurney and Peter Wright will meet in the BetVictor World Matchplay semi-finals after battling through quarter-finals with Mensur Suljovic and Darren Webster on Thursday in Blackpool.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Jul 2017, 00:00 BST
Updated 11th Sep 2017, 12:18 BST
Peter Wright and Darren Webster embrace at the end of their quarter-final Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDCPeter Wright and Darren Webster embrace at the end of their quarter-final Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Peter Wright and Darren Webster embrace at the end of their quarter-final Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Gurney produced arguably the performance of his career to reach Saturday’s last four with a 16-13 win over Suljovic.

The Northern Irishman’s rise has continued with an impressive week in Blackpool, as he piled in 13 maximums and finished 50 per cent of his chances at a double to see off the number seven seed.

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Gurney began brightly with a 171 as he took the opening leg and a 13-darter to lead 2-1, before Suljovic finished 81 and 80 as he won three in a row to move 4-2 up.

The Austrian also led 5-3 and 6-4 as the pair continued to trade maximums, before Gurney levelled and then took out a 146 checkout to lead 7-6.

An 11-darter from the Northern Irish ace was followed by a 10-dart finish from Suljovic, who then broke throw to lead 9-8 only to see Gurney finish 100 to level up.

Finishes of 84 and tops saw Suljovic move 11-9 ahead, and he fired in a maximum as he took a 12-10 lead, only for Gurney to win three straight legs.

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Double 10 levelled for Suljovic, but Gurney moved 14-13 up on tops and then followed his 13th 180 with double 18 to break throw, before punishing his opponent’s rare miss at double 14 by taking out double eight for the win.

Wright also had to fight back from behind before he eventually overcame Webster, 16-12

A see-saw contest began with Wright taking a 2-0 lead before Webster hit back to move 3-2 up.

A pair of 96 checkouts, to complete legs of 11 and 12 darts, moved Wright 4-3 up only for him to see Webster move back in front at 5-4 and 6-5.

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Wright levelled with a 101 finish and then came from 8-6 down to lead 9-8.

Again, missed doubles cost Wright dearly as Webster levelled in leg 18, finished double five to move ahead and double 16 to break for an 11-9 cushion.

Wright responded, finishing double 18 before legs of 11 and 12 darts saw him sneak back ahead at 12-11, and a Webster miss at tops allowed the Scot to move two legs clear.

Double 14 gave Wright a three-leg lead at 14-11 before he punished four misses from Webster at tops to move to the brink of victory.

Double eight kept Webster’s hopes alive, but Wright took out 74 in two darts to reach the semi-finals.

Related topics:Blackpool