Taylor, Lewis and Wade to reach Darts Match Play semi finals

The quarter finals of the Darts World Match Play has been broken up into afternoon and evening sessions as the length of matches have increased to the best of 31 legs.

Phil Taylor could be pushed hard to continue his progress, while the encounters between Adrian Lewis and Terry Jenkins and James Wade and Michael Van Gerwin threaten to be of an exceedingly high standard.

Justin Pipe to beat Ronnie Baxter @ 8/11

The ultimate example of the tortoise against the hare and Pipe’s slow style is expected to shine through as he is likely to stop Baxter establishing any sort of rhythm.

Pipe has already exceeded himself in reaching a first major quarter final and triumphed in his last meeting with Baxter last October in Ireland.

Adrian Lewis (-3.5 games) to beat Terry Jenkins @ 1/1

This is surprisingly the first meeting between the pair this year, given that they have squared off a total of 14 times across the last two years.

Jenkins has only triumphed in one of the last ten, while Lewis prevailed in the quarter finals en route to winning the Ladbrokes World Championships.

If Lewis maintains his concentration he should prevail again, but he did not look appropriately focused against Andy Smith in the last round and Jenkins is playing well enough to take advantage of any slips.

Safer punters may simply want to back Lewis at 1/3 in the darts odds to win the match, but he has beaten Jenkins comprehensively before and can come through by four legs or more again.

Andy Hamilton (+5.5 games) to beat Phil Taylor @ 1/1

Taylor has 25 of the 26 career meetings between the two and both those to take place this year in the Premier League.

However, his average in beating Ian White in the second round was his lowest at the Match Play for nine years and he may still be getting accustomed to a new set of darts.

Hamilton is enjoying a productive season and his grinding style can make Taylor work for a victory.

James Wade to beat Michael Van Gerwin @ 2/5

This threatens to be a classic if both players repeat their second-round performances.

Van Gerwin hit a nine-darter and countless 100+ checkouts to beat Steve Beaton, while Wade’s scoring, particularly in the opening ten legs, was far too much for Mark Walsh.

Wade is easily the most consistent of the pair and a former Match Play champion, alongside being a three-time beaten finalist.

This makes him a worthy favourite, while he has won all of the last six meetings between the pair.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.