Auckland Darts Masters 2015: Scores, Results, Updated Schedule After Saturday

The lineup for the semi-finals of the 2015 Auckland Darts Masters has now been revealed after four titanic quarter-final clashes on Saturday.

James Wade was the first to book his place in the next round with an 8-5 win over Peter Wright, before Raymond van Barneveld overcame Michael van Gerwen in a hard-fought encounter.

Phil Taylor was comfortable in his 8-3 defeat of Simon Whitlock, and Adrian Lewis defeated Gary Anderson 8-4.

Here are the latest results, followed by Sunday's schedule and a look at Saturday's action.

Winner	Score	Loser
Phil Taylor	8-3	Simon Whitlock
Adrian Lewis	8-4	Gary Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld	8-7	Michael van Gerwen
James Wade	8-5	Peter Wright

Player 1	VS.	Player 2
Raymond van Barneveld	VS.	James Wade
Phil Taylor	VS.	Adrian Lewis

Recap

Wade and Wright came into the match with honours even after their two recent clashes in Australia, but Wade was able to edge out his opponent on Saturday.

The Englishman hit four 180s on his way to victory and checked out on double top seven times.

Wright, on the other hand, was profligate in his checkout attempts, which ultimately cost him a place in the semi-final. 

The Scot matched Wade for much of the match and took a lead in the opening leg, but an errant dart in the third leg and a missed double-16 finish in the 11th provided the 32-year-old an excellent platform for victory.

Auckland Darts shared the key stats from the encounter on Twitter:

Van Barneveld's clash with van Gerwen was the highlight of the night, with the latter twice allowing van Barneveld back into the match before the 48-year-old sealed the memorable win.

The younger player raced into an early three-leg lead in the tie, but with the score poised at 4-1, a surprisingly wasteful van Gerwen was punished for missing three winning darts as van Barneveld ruthlessly won the next four with finishes on double 10, eight and 16, as well as a 96 checkout.

The 26-year-old again edged in front but again lacked the clinical finish to tie up the clash when he missed double eight twice in the 14th leg.

Van Barneveld hung on for the decisive shootout though, and he checked out in style from 84 as he ended on a bull. As sports commentator Stuart Pyke hinted, he has beaten van Gerwen twice in a row, having triumphed over him in Sydney the previous weekend:

The Dutchman took to Twitter after the match to express his delight with the win:

In the third quarter-final, Taylor almost pulled off a whitewash as he won the first seven legs against Whitlock.

As Auckland Darts demonstrates, Taylor was in sumptuous form as he took eight out of 11 checkouts and maintained an average of 107.37:

The Englishman rarely needed more than 14 darts to claim each leg, and he won the sixth with just 11.

Whitlock showed hints of a comeback at the end as he won three consecutive legs, including checkouts of 135 and 100, as well as a double-16 finish, but Taylor held his nerve to see out the win.

Per Auckland Darts, the 16-time world champion was wary of the Australian's late form in the match:

Nevertheless, Taylor remained comfortable throughout.

Equally comfortable was Lewis, who put in a strong performance to dismiss Anderson.

The 30-year-old took a two-leg lead, breaking Anderson in the first before punishing a missed dart as his opponent sought to break back.

Anderson took the fifth to make it 3-2 to Lewis with just 11 darts, but two 180s in the sixth weren't enough to stop Lewis extending his lead back to two legs.

Anderson continued his valiant effort by winning two more legs, but Lewis was in powerful form on Saturday and ruthless in his checkouts.

Indeed, the Englishman sent out a message to semi-final opponent Taylor after the match:

With all four contenders looking strong, Sunday promises to be a thrilling showdown as they go head-to-head in the semis and then the showpiece event.

Van Barneveld came through the most difficult match to reach the final four, and if he can replicate his phenomenal performance against van Gerwen on Sunday, then a sixth world title awaits.