Price and Van Veen claim victories to set up World Matchplay semi-final clash

[p]The Dutchman avenged his defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wade-james/MRrXjBAB/"]Wade[/a] at the same stage of last year's tournament and will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/price-gerwyn/8dDDoW0B/"]Gerwyn Price[/a] on Saturday, following the Welshman's 16-12 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-ross/l8mIsYNm/"]Ross Smith[/a] in the opening quarter-final.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-veen-gian/jgT1AT29/"]Van Veen[/a] was below the high standards he's shown previously, but produced big moments when they mattered most at the Winter Gardens.[/p][p]After a scrappy start, he broke clear with a 160 checkout to move 9-6 ahead before extending his lead to 11-7.[/p][p]In response, Wade landed finishes of 79 and 121 to win four of the next five legs and go level at 11-11, before another 121 kept his hopes alive late on.[/p][p]Van Veen hit a 118 checkout to edge 14-12 in front and won the final two legs to seal victory.[/p][embed guid="85a6f8a8-bebf-446c-97b5-cc9a1bdf4b28" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2080773227278655645?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"My scoring has been okay the whole tournament, but today it just wasn't up to par. My finishing got me through that. It was a tight battle,"[/b] Van Veen said.[/p][p][b]"Even though I'm not scoring as well as I want to, I'm still getting through to the semi-finals. I've got about 20 hours to put that right.[/b][/p][p][b]"Hopefully tomorrow I'll be a lot better because I'll need to be against Gezzy.[/b][/p][p][b]"This is the second biggest major after the World Championship, so I'm so glad to get into the semi-finals for the first time."[/b][/p][image alt="Key stats" id="c0e47d33-ba9b-411b-ad79-95c361db3d65" credit-line="PDC" guid="832bb0aa-28e6-4f50-9a8a-a4ff3bbb72b3" original-width="1200" original-height="1500" /][p]Earlier, 'Gezzy' Price reached the last four for the second time after producing his best display of the tournament so far to beat Smith.[/p][p]The Welshman averaged 102.78 and hit 10 maximums as he built a 12-8 lead by edging out each of the opening four sessions 3-2.[/p][p]Smith responded by reeling off four straight legs with finishes of 68, 72 and 80 to draw level at 12-12.[/p][p]Price regained control, taking out 121 on the bull before adding a 91 finish to win the final four legs and book his place in the semi-finals.[/p][p][b]"Ross played a good game, and it's nice to play well when someone is playing well against you. It gives you confidence,"[/b] Price said.[/p][p][b]"When Ross got it back to 12-12, I thought: 'Here we go again', but thankfully I rolled off four legs on the bounce, so happy days.[/b][/p][p][b]"I'm trying to keep myself calm. It worked today, but on other occasions I need to let my emotions go. It has to come naturally.[/b][/p][p][b]"Like I said, I'm going to get better and better as this tournament goes on, and hopefully in the next round I'll play better again."[/b][/p][p]Saturday's semi-finals begin with Price taking on Van Veen before defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/littler-luke/0URN6Xks/"]Luke Littler[/a] meets [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-duijvenbode-dirk/fVUrttSI/"]Dirk van Duijvenbode[/a] for a place in Sunday's final.[/p][h2]Results[/h2][p]Gerwyn Price 16-12 Ross Smith[/p][p]Gian van Veen 16-13 James Wade[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/darts/price-g-8dDDoW0B/smith-r-l8mIsYNm/?mid=txKW0X8E"]Follow the World Matchplay with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]