SATURDAY rolls around and we are faced with one of the most open darts line ups in a ranking Semi-Final for a long time, with all four players fancying their chances at lifting the trophy tomorrow night.
Nathan Aspinall v. Gerwyn Price
The first Semi-Final see’s the two performers of the week face off in the first longer format match of the week, with it jumping up from a best of five to best of nine at this stage.
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Aspinall comes into the match having hit the fourth highest average in the 29 year history of the Grand Prix last night, whitewashing Ryan Joyce with an insane average of 105.15.
He also produced a good 96.27 average in his 3-0 win over Luke Woodhouse in the last 16, having survived match darts to go out 2-0 in his opener against Kevin Doets.
Since Doets missed those two darts at tops to knock out Aspinall, he has won the next eight sets to move into the Semi-Finals, his second at the Grand Prix having reached the final in 2022.
Gerwyn Price however faced a much tougher test in his Quarter-Final last night, surviving match darts in coming back from 2-0 down to beat fellow Welshman Jonny Clayton in a deciding leg. This followed his 2-0 win over Bialecki with a 101.61 average (the only other 100+ of the event), and a comfortable 3-0 win over Ross Smith.
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This is a fifth Semi-Final at the Grand Prix for the “Iceman”, having done so in four consecutive years from 2020-2023, but failed to reach this stage in each of the last two events. He reached the final in 2021 and 2023, but his only title came in 2020.
The head-to-head favours Price, winning 20 of the 34 meetings between the pair, but Aspinall came out on top in the last two. However, this is the first meeting of any kind since Night 11 of the 2025 Premier League last April, nearly 18 months ago!
Excluding the Premier League, Aspinall leads their head-to-head in major tournaments 4-3, including a win at their only meeting at the Grand Prix at this same stage in 2022. Their last meeting at a major came in the Last 16 of the 2023 European Championships, with the Welshman coming out on top a 10-5 winner.
Luke Humphries v. James Wade
World number two Luke Humphries comes into this meeting needing to win the title to hold onto that spot, with van Veen provisionally looking to overtake him come Monday morning. He hasn’t lost a set yet, beating Chisnall, Wattimena and Zonneveld, but it is fair to say he hasn’t hit top gear. Two of his performances came with a sub-86 average, with the other one being a 94.11.
Humphries is bitting to reach a fourth consecutive Final at the Grand Prix, becoming just the third player to do that in any ranked major after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen. He has however lost in the final on the last two occasions, with the title in 2023 being his very first major.
James Wade (above) comes into the Semi-Finals for the first time since 2014 producing some of the best darts of his career. He took out 3rd seed Gian van Veen in the Quarter-Finals to the loss of just leg, averaging 96.71, following a 3-1 win over Stephen Bunting in the Last 16 and a tight comeback win against Joe Cullen in the first round.
Wade can attribute a lot of his success this week to his incredible 160-hitting at the start of legs, highlighted by doing so in four consecutive legs against Bunting. Despite not reaching this stage of the Grand Prix in twelve years, this is his sixth Semi-Final, having won three of his previous five. He has claimed the title twice, doing so in 2007 and 2010.
Luke Humphries dominates the head-to-head, winning 15 of their 22 meetings, including the last three. The most recent two having come in major tournaments, winning 10-3 in the Quarter-Finals of the 2025 European Championships, and in a deciding leg of the 2025 World Series of Darts Finals. James Wade’s last win came in a deciding leg at the 2025 UK Open, where he went on to reach the final.
Humphries leads their major head-to-head too, but it is much closer, winning six of their ten meetings. Despite this, they haven’t actually met in over 10 months.
The Semi-Finals get under way from 20:15 BST in Leicester, with the final coming tomorrow (Sunday).
Images: PDC
