Luke Humphries battled back from the brink to stun Peter Wright and progress to the BoyleSports World Grand Prix semi-finals in Leicester on Friday.
Former finalist Wright started superbly to establish a commanding two-set lead, but he was left shell-shocked as a tenacious Humphries clawed himself off the canvas to complete a sensational fightback.
Wright averaged 99 to clinch a high-quality opening set, and the colourful Scot soon doubled his tally, following up a clinical 100 kill with a 16-dart hold to leave Humphries staring down the barrel.
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However, the 28-year-old halved the deficit, before converting 133 and 92 finishes en route to restoring parity at two apiece, after surviving three match darts in a dramatic conclusion to set four.
Humphries continued his charge with a 109 checkout to move a leg away from glory, and despite Wright’s best efforts, the sixth seed held his nerve to prevail in a thrilling last-leg shoot-out.
“That could be one of the greatest wins of my career,” declared Humphries, who will now feature in a second successive TV ranking semi-final.
“I can’t really put that into words. That was prime Peter – that was Peter Wright at his best. I put everything into that game, and I’m so proud of myself. That is a massive win for me.
“I never make it easy for myself, but you don’t expect it to be easy. We have so many great players here, and I’m probably going to have to play as well as that in the semi-finals.”
The BoyleSports World Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2023 BoyleSports World Grand Prix
Friday October 6
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 3-0 Martin Schindler (3-0, 3-0, 3-1)
Michael Smith 3-0 Andrew Gilding (3-1, 3-0, 3-2)
Luke Humphries 3-2 Peter Wright (1-3, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2)
Joe Cullen 3-2 Chris Dobey (3-0, 1-3, 1-3, 3-1, 3-1)
Saturday October 7 (2000 BST)
Semi-Finals
Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price
Joe Cullen v Luke Humphries
Best of 7 Sets
—–ENDS—–
Images: Simon O’Connor/ PDC
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