Arabic version: ليتل يبلغ نصف نهائي بطولة وورلد ماتش بلاي

According to BBC News, Luke Littler continued his World Matchplay title defence with a straightforward 16-7 quarter-final victory over Josh Rock in Blackpool. The world number one initially traded breaks with Rock as the match reached 5-5, but the 19-year-old then won five legs in a row and cruised into the semi-finals.

Littler threw 17 180s and recorded a scoring average of 109.57 in the win. “At the minute, everything’s going to plan,” he said. “I feel good. I can afford to miss a few doubles because the scoring’s there.” He added: “Once again another brilliant performance, but fair play to Josh, he put up a good fight.”

The defending champion will face unseeded Dutch player Dirk van Duijvenbode in Saturday’s semi-final. Van Duijvenbode reached his first Matchplay semi-final after holding off a late Gary Anderson surge for a 16-13 win on Thursday evening.

Anderson, the 2018 World Matchplay champion, produced a late display that included a 154 checkout after falling eight legs behind. Van Duijvenbode had led 8-4, dropped two legs, then won six consecutively to move 14-6 ahead. Anderson’s comeback meant it took a further nine legs before Van Duijvenbode secured the tie.

Friday’s quarter-final schedule features Gian van Veen against James Wade and Gerwyn Price against Ross Smith, with action starting at 20:05 BST.