GARY ANDERSONโS DREAMS of a third World Darts Championship are still alive after he booked another semi-final spot.
The 2015 and 2016 champion beat Luke Humphries 5-2 to reach the last four for the seventh time at Alexandra Palace.
He averaged 96, hit eight 180s and produced four ton finishes, including a 148 checkout.
Anderson, who has struggled with a back injury for much of the year, will play with Peter Wright or Callan Rydz in the next round.
He said on Sky Sports: โI missed a lot of doubles at the start, but thatโs the way it goes.
โI have got no expectations whatsoever. We are here another day now, there will be some good games tonight. We are here.โ
James Wade is in the semi-final for the first time since 2013 after a 5-0 whitewash of Mervyn King.
๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐!
โ PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2022
Gary Anderson defies a strong performance from Luke Humphries to book his place in the Semi-Finals of the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship!
A 5-2 victory for the Scot, who hit four ton-plus checkouts!#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/QPrcrXcrx3
The 38-year-old is an outsider after seeing his ranking plummet in recent weeks, but insists he is enjoying proving people wrong, especially pundit Wayne Mardle.
He said in his post-match press conference: โWayne Mardle, I love proving him wrong. I donโt mean this in a personal or derogatory way to Wayne Mardle, but he always tips me off, to not do this and not do that.
โI have won more than Wayne did in two weeks than he did in his entire career but he is hell-bent on being a little bit silly.โ
Wade will play either defending champion Gerwyn Price or 2019 runner-up Michael Smith in the last four.
James wade is probably the least likable dart player since phil taylor.
@Brian Dunne: yeah not the soundest person but he has his issues all the same, he won 5-0 was very poor against a limited opponent