Luke Littler is two wins away from defending his World Matchplay title.
The 19-year-old world number one defeated Josh Rock 16-7 in a quarter-final on Thursday night in Blackpool, advancing to the semifinals in dominant fashion. Littler threw 17 180s during the match and posted a scoring average of 109.57, according to BBC Sport.
Rock kept things close early. The two players traded breaks to reach 5-5, and the match appeared competitive through the first half. Then Littler reeled off five consecutive legs and the contest was effectively over.
After the win, Littler reflected on his performance. "At the minute, everything's going to plan," he said. The teenager added: "I feel good. I can afford to miss a few doubles because the scoring's there. Once again another brilliant performance, but fair play to Josh, he put up a good fight."
Littler will face unseeded Dirk van Duijvenbode of the Netherlands in Saturday's semifinal. Van Duijvenbode reached the final four for the first time in his career by surviving a late rally from Gary Anderson in the other quarter-final, winning 16-13.
Anderson, the 2018 World Matchplay champion, mounted a significant comeback after trailing by eight legs, including hitting a 154 checkout during his push. But Van Duijvenbode held on.
The Dutch player had already shown nerves in the tournament. After his second-round win over Michael van Gerwen, Van Duijvenbode said that shaking "like a little child crying for his mum" allowed his compatriot back into match after leading 8-4. On Thursday, he led 8-4 again and again saw the lead shrink before eventually pulling away to a 14-6 advantage, only to need nine more legs to close out Anderson.
Friday's schedule features two more quarter-finals. Third seed Gian van Veen faces sixth seed James Wade, and seventh seed Gerwyn Price takes on 15th seed Ross Smith. Action begins at 20:05 BST.
