Darts World Matchplay 2017: Peter Wright, Daryl Gurney Advance to Semi-Finals

Peter Wright will face Daryl Gurney in the semi-finals of the 2017 Darts World Matchplay after they defeated respective quarter-final opponents Darren Webster and Mensur Suljovic at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Unseeded Gurney may be the underdog's pick to beat Wright in his semi-final outing, but the Northern Irishman won six of the last seven legs played to pull off a big upset from 10-12 down.

Wright mastered a comeback of his own late on against Webster and finished as the 16-12 victor over "Demolition Man" following six consecutive leg wins near the climax of their encounter. 

The quarter-finals continue at the Winter Gardens on Friday, when world champion Michael van Gerwen will attempt to beat icon Phil Taylor to a place in the final four. Elsewhere, Alan Norris will hope to surprise Adrian Lewis in the hopes he can snatch a semi-final spot.

Read on for a recap of Thursday's results from Blackpool, complete with statistics courtesy of the official PDC website.

Recap

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On a night of comebacks, Wright booked his place in the semi-finals after trailing quarter-finalist Webster 11-9, piecing together a timely run of six leg wins to wrest victory from the jaws of what would have been a poor defeat.

Snakebite won against the throw and opened up a 2-0 lead early on in Thursday's late fixture, but Webster showed he was in Blackpool to compete after three wins on the bounce saw him lead for the first time in the match.

Maximums were at something of a premium between the two—only 11 were thrown during the match in total—and the pair went back and forth as the weight of momentum shifted to and fro.

Webster led 11-9 and might have been favoured for the victory as he stood five legs from triumph, but tensions came close to bubbling over for the Norwich native when Wright embarked on a six-leg streak:

Demolition Man was ultimately able to win only one of the last eight legs on offer, a consolatory pullback at 15-12 down, before Wright capped proceedings off with a 74 checkout to seal his semi-final spot.

Bet365 provided a breakdown of Wright's numbers from a memorable win under pressure, deserving the win with a checkout percentage of 41.03, far superior to Webster's 27.91 per cent:

A 171 from his opening darts signalled Gurney was in the mood to thrill during his meeting with Suljovic, and an astute 13-darter swiftly put the 31-year-old up 2-1 before his foe swung back with a three-leg streak to lead 4-2.

The Austrian gradually increased that two-leg lead to 6-4, at which point it came time for Gurney to hit a trio of leg victories of his own, ending that run with a tremendous 146 checkout that lifted Blackpool to its feet.

In what might have been the best performance of his career thus far, the potential Champions League of Darts entrant allowed The Gentle back in to the match at 7-8 and surrendered the lead once more to slip a leg behind.

But Gurney showed that despite being one of the younger members left in the competition, he's got nerves of steel, finishing tops to draw level at nine legs apiece:

Again, Suljovic added to his tally of maximums to steal a 12-10 lead, but it was here that Gurney's staunchest display surfaced, conceding just one of the final seven legs to book his place in the last four.

The narrow margins of Gurney's win are evidenced by the fact his average of 97.18 was inferior to Suljovic's 99.45, although he did throw six more maximums (13) than his opponent's seven.

Wright promises to be an even less forgiving foe in the semi-finals, however, meaning he has improvements to make if his Matchplay dream is to survive beyond Saturday's schedule.