PDC World Championship - Report Thirteenth Day, Afternoon
Quarterfinals 1

WRIGHT AND WHITLOCK WIN NINE-SET THRILLERS IN LADBROKES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINALS
Peter Wright and Simon Whitlock will clash in the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship semi-finals following dramatic tie-break victories over Wes Newton and Ian White as the quarter-finals kicked off at Alexandra Palace on Saturday night with two thrillers.

Scottish-born Wright, the number 16 seed in the 1 million pound event, continued his dream run in the event by edging out Newton in a classic at Alexandra Palace which saw the pair swapping sets like prize boxers trading blows.
Newton took the first two sets to lead before Wright hit back to level, but the Fleetwood ace, seeded eighth, took the fifth in a deciding leg to regain control - only to be punished for missing two darts to lead 4-2 as the Scot again hit back to level. Wright then won the seventh set 3-1 as he moved ahead for the first time, only to see Newton take the eighth without reply to hit back and level to force a decider. Wright initially missed four match darts as Newton hit back from 2-0 down to take the final set into a tie-break, but prevailed 5-3 as he continued his incredible year.

"I need someone to pinch me to see if I'm not dreaming!" said Wright. "It was very tight and it was enjoyable that I could battle it out even if I wasn't on top form. It was a battle, a scrap but I've learned a lot in the past five or six years on the PDC circuit and I'm making my game strong all round, so that the bad games are not really that bad. The 121 was the shot of my life. I was thinking about the double 12 that I'd missed before and I was willing the bullseye to go in."
Wright now has a day's break before returning for his semi-final, and admitted that he will enjoy the rest following two successive games which have gone the distance, meaning he has played 16 sets in his past two wins.
"There's another two games left to win now in this tournament and I'll be very grateful for a day's rest," he added. "The third round game against Michael Smith took a lot out of me and I played again over a long distance tonight. It's been a learning process; changing my darts, getting used to the TV and the fantastic crowds and enjoying yourself up on stage, not putting yourself under pressure. I'm doing that and I'm enjoying myself, and to reach the semi-finals of the biggest event in the game shows that all the practice I've put in and the changes I've made have paid off."

Wright now meets Whitlock for the right to win through to the final, after the Australian - who lost in the 2010 decider to Phil Taylor at Alexandra Palace - overcame a magnificent Ian White comeback before winning the deciding set of their game 4-2 in a tie-break.
Whitlock won the game's opening set 3-1 before punishing one miss from White to level in the second set by winning the decider on double four, and he then finished 136 in taking the third 3-1 to take control at three sets up. White replied to win the fourth set in a deciding leg, and though the Australian took the fifth 3-1, the Stoke ace won set six in the same manner to pull back to 4-2. White defied a 134 finish from Whitlock in set seven as he continued his revival before winning the eighth set 3-1 to claim a third successive set and level another enthralling contest. White then led with a 13-darter to open the deciding set, but Whitlock punished a miss on double 11 by levelling before hitting a maximum in moving 2-1 up. The Stoke star again levelled in 13 darts to send the game into a tie-break, but Whitlock took a dramatic fifth leg as White missed two darts at tops, before the Australian posted a 15th 180 of the game and hit double eight to finally taste victory.

"I'm lost for words because I had so many chances and I thought I'd lost it," admitted Whitlock. "That was so nerve-wracking and I don't know how I got through it, but I kept fighting all the way and believed in myself. Ian played some fantastic darts to get himself back into the match and he's a class act. I feel a little bit lucky - but I did come up with some good darts when I had to at the end of the match. That was so tough but it's great to get through the tough games because I've lost a few of them recently, mostly to James Wade, who is probably the best player in the world under pressure. I was thinking about him when I was playing then - that if he could do it to me, I can do it to someone else."
Whitlock added: "I've never lost a quarter-final in a World Championship and it would mean the world to me to go on and win this. I've got the biggest chance ever to win a World Championship title, but Peter Wright is playing the best darts of his life right now. Peter's a confident player and I think he's got more confidence than anyone I know - for someone to get up there and change his darts completely shows that he's very talented."

White had defied a nine-darter from Kyle Anderson in the first round and then sneaked past both Kim Huybrechts and Richie Burnett with 4-3 wins to reach his first World Championship quarter-final, and was proud of a run which will move him into the world's top 16 for the first time.
"I was dead and buried but I pulled it back, and when I went 1-0 up in the last set I thought I had my chance," he admitted. "I missed two darts at double top in one of the legs and I thought then that it might not be my day. To get to the last eight is a great achievement, and to push Simon - the number four in the world - shows that I'm up there with those guys. I just missed a couple of doubles and otherwise I could have been into the semi-final. Simon played well and it was a good game for the crowd, and I'm glad to have been a part of it."

Newton's defeat means that he has lost three times in the past four years at the quarter-final stage - in a deciding set on each occasion - and the number eight seed said: "It just didn't happen for me tonight.
"I tried to keep calm and tried to keep going but I knew deep down that it wasn't happening and it was very patchy. I felt the best I have during the tournament going into the game and I'm disappointed to lose. I've got to take the positives and getting to the quarter-finals of the World Championship isn't too bad, but I know inside that there's a lot more that could have happened."







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