Darts World Matchplay 2017: Phil Taylor, Peter Wright Reach Final

Phil Taylor and Peter Wright booked their places in the final of the 2017 Darts World Matchplay after winning their semi-final matches at Blackpool's Winter Gardens on Saturday.

Taylor kept his bid for a 16th Matchplay title alive by beating Adrian Lewis 17-9. The Power broke open a 7-7 deadlock to win five of the next six legs and eventually leave Jackpot well behind.

Meanwhile, Wright had to survive a much closer battle against Daryl Gurney. Snakebite eventually won 17-15 to earn a spot in Sunday's final for the first time.

Lewis was up 3-2 at the first interval but had been one dart away from a 4-1 lead, only to throw low when aiming for double-five. The Power responded to wrap up 64 with treble-eight and tops to stay in touch.

More mistakes came from Lewis when play resumed, as he threw too high for tops and a 4-2 lead. Taylor made no mistake going for the same score to level things at three apiece.

Neither player could seize the momentum, and it was 5-5 at the next break in play. Live Darts detailed the averages for both players:

Taylor inched into the lead after the break, thanks to his edge in maximums:

A double-nine got Jackpot back in it, and he later landed double-10 to momentarily prevent Taylor from pulling away. It was 7-7 when Taylor reeled off three in a row, but double-12 briefly got Lewis back in it.

Jackpot's throw was sluggish and soft, while Taylor was becoming typically ruthless at the oche. He pinned double-16 to end the session 12-8 in front.

Taylor continued the onslaught after the interval, per PDC Darts:

Lewis pulled one back, but the Power's combination finishing remained superb amid a chorus of "one Phil Taylor" from the partisan crowd in Blackpool.

After missing five match darts at double-four, Taylor wired double-two to reach another final.

Earlier, Wright raced into 6-4 and 9-6 leads as Gurney struggled to keep pace. An indication of SuperChin's toils was shown by his meagre numbers on doubles, per Live Darts:

Gurney still couldn't hit doubles when he missed a pair of darts at double-two after the interval. Wright pinned two for a four-leg lead.

The next leg was Wright's turn to flounder on doubles, as Snakebite missed three at double-four. He then wasted a pair of darts going for double-two before finally getting another chance to pin it and go 11-6 in front.

Gurney found his range to land tops and cut the gap before two maximums in a row put him in position to get closer. A 48 checkout made it 11-8 and heightened the pressure on Snakebite.

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As if to answer the call, Wright hit back with a 180 of his own but couldn't take out 84. Yet Gurney couldn't seize the momentum and blew a 136 checkout when he missed double-eight.

Gurney did pin double-two, though, to reduce the gap further. A double-eight got him to within one, but Wright steadied the ship after finding double-10.

Snakebite soon followed by breaking throw after finding tops and stretching his lead to 14-11. Gurney answered back with a 118 checkout, but Wright was even better in the next leg.

The Scot took out 100 to take the steam out of SuperChin. PDC Darts detailed the crucial checkout Snakebite unerringly found:

Gurney threatened to push for overtime, but Wright finally sealed victory by taking treble-20 and double-18 to book his place in the final.

Wright will need to be better against Taylor, who is looking unbeatable in his final appearance at the Matchplay event.