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Darts results: Peter Wright and Devon Petersen reach European Championship semi-finals
Devon Petersen, Peter Wright, James Wade and Jonny Clayton made it through to the semi-finals of the Unibet European Championship in Oberhausen on Saturday.
All four players won their quarter-final matches and will return to the König Pilsener Arena stage for Sunday evening's final session, as Petersen produced the performance of the night.
The in-form South African averaged 106.3 in a 10-6 defeat of Ian White, which was shaping up to be the evening's tightest contest before Petersen reeled off the last five legs in succession.
Petersen landed ten 180s and had the better of the scoring throughout, but inaccuracy on the outer ring allowed White chances to stay in the contest which he took to go into the interval level at 5-5.
A 14-dart leg from White, who knocked out Michael van Gerwen on Friday, saw him move into a 6-5 lead, only for Petersen to restore parity and then land a game-changing 143 checkout to break throw.
Legs of 14 and 11 darts followed, before Petersen sealed the deal on double eight to send him through to his first individual ranking TV semi-final where Wade awaits.
"I'm happy that the game didn't ignite. If it did it would've been a tougher scenario," Petersen explained.
"I knew Ian's first dart was slightly high and I tried to jump on that, which actually impeded the way I was playing.
"I kept letting him in. I felt like I had the upper-hand but I wasn't showing it until the 143 went in.
"I've always dreamt of being a champion on the PDC tour, and when I achieved that it validated my hard work. Now I'm just carrying on with that winning mentality and confidence.
"If I keep it going, who knows, I could be the one lifting the trophy tomorrow night."
Wade eased into the final four with a 10-4 defeat of William O'Connor in the night's opening game.
The 2018 champion was at his reliable best on the doubles as he opened up a 3-0 lead which he never relinquished.
The world number 11 built on Friday's impressive defeat of Nathan Aspinall with trademark checkouts of 96, 87 and 82 to keep O'Connor at bay.
"I'm really happy to win. I was very nervous tonight, which is quite strange," admitted Wade.
"The first two games I was very confident, that one I wasn't very confident about. I had doubts in my head.
"It was steady tonight, nothing amazing but it was good."
Sunday's second semi-final will see Wright meet Clayton after their wins over Steve West and Dirk van Duijvenbode respectively.
Wright produced a third ton-plus average in as many games in a 10-6 defeat of West to reach the semi-finals for a third time in six years.
Despite missing 19 double attempts, Wright fired in eight 180s and averaged 104.19 to get the better of a resilient West.
After breaking throw early on, Wright never let his lead slip, though he was pushed all the way by West who landed two ton-plus finishes, the second of which was a 112 to break throw to make it 8-6.
However, that was as close as West got to clawing back the deficit as Wright closed out the victory with an immediate break back before a 12-dart leg to see it out.
"I don't think I played well tonight but I'm happy with the win," said Wright.
"Steve is an amazing player, he's blown me off the board in the past but it's different on TV.
"I like playing Jonny [Clayton], he's an amazing guy and he's a quality player.
"The only way I think I won't win the trophy this weekend is if I miss doubles, so I need to sharpen up on that for tomorrow."
Clayton was a 10-4 victor over Van Duijvenbode as the Welshman made it through to his second TV semi-final of 2020.
A tight start to the game saw no more than a leg between the pair until Clayton struck a crucial break of throw to move 6-4 in front.
From there, Clayton put his foot to the floor to accelerate away from his opponent, restricting Van Duijvenbode to just one more double attempt as he won the next four legs to wrap up the win.
"I'm happy to be through but I think I had to win ugly tonight," said Clayton, who will now meet Peter Wright or Steve West.
"Dirk didn't play how he can and I noticed his head dropped but it's my job to get over the line and I'm happy to have done that.
"All you want is the W next to your name, whether it's pretty or not.
"I'm still not relaxed up there yet, hopefully that will come tomorrow and if it does then you will see my darts flow."
Saturday results and Sunday schedule
Saturday October 31 (1900 BST)
Quarter-finals (Best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: ITV4
- William O'Connor 4-10 James Wade
- Jonny Clayton 10-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Peter Wright 10-6 Steve West
- Devon Petersen 10-6 Ian White
Sunday November 1
Evening Session (2000 BST)
TV Channel: ITV4
Semi-Final (Best of 21 legs)
- James Wade v Devon Petersen
- Peter Wright v Jonny Clayton
Final (Best of 21 legs)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2