Schedule Sunday night at World Series of Darts Finals 2024: Van Gerwen faces Littler in semifinals
Schedule Sunday night at World Series of Darts Finals 2024: Van Gerwen faces Littler in semifinals
Four top darters still have a chance at the final victory Sunday night at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. In the evening session, the semifinals and final will be played consecutively in the AFAS Live.
It is the tenth time the World Series of Darts Finals has been scheduled. This year the tournament will be played for the fifth time in the AFAS Live in Amsterdam. Who will run away with the title? Read our preview here.
Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen
First, Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen will battle for a spot in the final of the World Series of Darts Finals. Both players have already put up exciting games to reach the final four.
Tournament centre World Series of Darts Finals 2024: Schedule, all results, TV Guide and prize money breakdown
Littler started the tournament with a hard-fought 6-5 win over Ross Smith, after which ‘The Nuke’ also had to pull out all the stops to beat Raymond van Barneveld 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Littler defeated Chris Dobey (10-7). Van Gerwen beat Jonny Clayton 6-4 in his first match and then eliminated compatriot Danny Noppert (6-3). In the last eight, ‘Mighty Mike’ recorded a 10-9 victory over reigning world champion Luke Humphries. Van Gerwen initially missed nine matchdarts before Humphries left his only matchdart unused. Van Gerwen then hit the tenth matchdart.
This year, Littler and Van Gerwen have already played many matches against each other. No less than ten times they have met. Six times the Dutchman won and four times Littler won. The most recent encounter was at the World Matchplay, where Van Gerwen won 10-6.
Once again Wright has made it to the final stage of a tournament. After a semifinal place at the New Zealand Darts Masters and his final victory at the German Darts Championship, ‘Snakebite’ is just one win away from third final spot at the World Series Finals, one of the few televised tournaments Wright has yet to win. The Scot made it to the final four by successively beating Dave Chisnall (6-1), Jeff Smith (6-2) and Daryl Gurney (10-4).
In the semifinals, Michael Smith is the opponent. That ‘Bullyboy’ is in the last four is actually a miracle in itself. In all of his three previous matches, he survived one or more matchdarts. Jose de Sousa missed one matchdart to eliminate Smith in the first round, while Wessel Nijman could not cash his six matchdarts against Smith. In the quarterfinals against Rob Cross, Smith survived another three matchdarts.
It will be the 57th official meeting between Wright and Smith. In the head-to-head, Wright leads 33-21, while both men tied twice during the old format of Premier League Darts. In June, the two players met at a Euro Tour tournament in Leverkusen. Then the win went 6-4 to Smith, who has won all of the last four duels between them.
In the afternoon session on Saturday, Sept. 14, the final eight matches from the first round will be played. The winners of these matches, like Friday night’s winners, will compete in the second round on Saturday night. The eight remaining players will make their appearance on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 15, during the quarterfinals. On Sunday night, the denouement of the major tournament in the Netherlands will be with the semifinals and finals.
All participants are guaranteed 5,000 pounds of starting money. If a player wins his first round, that amount increases to 10,000 pounds. A spot in the quarterfinals of the World Series of Darts Finals earns £17,500.
Four players remain on the final night. The players in the semifinals return home with £25,000 in prize money anyway. The finalists secure £40,000, while the winner takes home the top prize of £80,000. The prize money won does not count toward the world rankings.
