Gian van Veen booked his place in the final four with a 16-13 win over a spirited James Wade.

Van Veen seized the upper hand early on and had a three-leg cushion at 11-7, only for Wade to battle back and get on level terms at 11-11.

Englishman Wade kept pegging Van Veen back until the third seed produced a 118 checkout to break Wade's throw to go 14-12 up before he wrapped up victory.

"It was a tight battle, but I'm glad I got the job done," Van Veen said.

"I was so lucky James wasn't scoring as well and my finishing got me through. Hopefully in the semis I will be a lot better."

The 24-year-old is looking to reach just his third ranking final.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images

Mark Webster
Former BDO world champion on Sky Sports

Gerwyn Price faced huge challenges last night but it impressed me that there was no head shaking.

He has played really well and that is good to see because we've been worried about his interest in the game in the past few months.

John Part
Former PDC world champion on Sky Sports

I still haven't made my mind up who is going to win the first semi-final.

Gerwyn Price looked like he fell off a tractor in the first round and should have been knocked out by Martin Schindler, but he has just grown and grown.

Gerwyn Price produced a clinical display to beat Ross Smith 16-12 in the quarter-finals.

The Welshman looked to be in control of the last-eight tie at Blackpool's Winter Gardens before Smith fought back from 12-8 down to draw level.

However, Price was able to raise his game again to seal victory with a 102.78 average as he bids to reach the final of the tournament for the first time.

"Ross played a decent game as well, so it's nice to play well when someone is playing well. It gives you a bit of confidence going into the next round," Price told Sky Sports.

"For him to get back to 12-12, I thought 'here we go again', but thankfully I rode off four legs on the bounce."

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images

20:05: Gerwyn Price v Gian van Veen

21:45: Luke Littler v Dirk van Duijvenbode

For the World Matchplay competition, the prize money has increased by £200,000 in total to £1m. In 2025, the total prize pot was £800,000.

The winner will win £225,000 in prize money, an increase of £25,000 from 12 months ago.

World Matchplay prize money

• Winner - £225,000
• Runner-up - £125,000
• Semi-final losers - £65,000
• Quarter-final losers - £35,000
• Second round losers - £22,500
• First round losers - £12,000

Image source, Getty Images

The past 10 editions of the World Matchplay have given us nine different winners.

Of tonight's four semi-finalists, Luke Littler is the only previous winner having lifted the Phil Taylor Trophy last year.

Are we going to see a new winner at the Winter Gardens this year?

Past 10 World Matchplay winners

• 2025 – Luke Littler
• 2024 – Luke Humphries
• 2023 – Nathan Aspinall
• 2022 – Michael van Gerwen
• 2021 – Peter Wright
• 2020 – Dimitri van den Bergh
• 2019 – Rob Cross
• 2018 – Gary Anderson
• 2017 – Phil Taylor
• 2016 – Michael van Gerwen

The semi-finals are best of 33 legs, or first to 17.

However, victories must be by two clear legs.

So if we're tied at 16-16, extra legs will be played. If we get to 19-19, then we'll go to sudden death.

32 players entered the World Matchplay - the 16 highest-ranked players from the PDC's Order of Merit and the 16 best players from this year's ProTour Order of Merit who had not yet qualified.

The draw was seeded meaning the top 16-ranked players were all kept apart in the opening round.

The straight knockout event is played in legs rather than sets, with the number required to win a match increasing after every round.

Image source, Getty Images

It's time for the semi-finals.

We've got two cracking matches to enjoy this evening at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

First up is Gerwyn Price v Gian van Veen, then Luke Littler v Dirk van Duijvenbode.

This should be fun.