PDC World Darts Championship 2018: Semi-Final Results and Championship Schedule
Gill Clark@@gillclarky
Featured Columnist IDecember 31, 2017
Phil Taylor will play Rob Cross in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship 2018 at Alexandra Palace on Monday after both men tasted victory in the semi-finals.
Taylor took on qualifier Jamie Lewis in the first of Saturday's matches and cruised to a 6-1 victory, while Cross beat defending champion Michael van Gerwen in the second semi-final.
Championship Schedule
Matchup: Phil Taylor vs. Rob Cross
When: Monday, Jan. 1, at 8 p.m. GMT
Watch: Sky Sports Darts
Lewis has enjoyed a fine tournament, seeing off second seed Peter Wright and thrashing Darren Webster 5-0 in the quarter-finals, but he was no match for Taylor.
He did, however, begin brightly against The Power, coming back from two legs down to win the first set, as shown by PDC Darts:
It could have gotten even better for the 26-year-old Welshman, but he missed a dart which would have given him the second set, and Taylor took full advantage to level it up.
It was a similar story in the third, as Lewis missed three darts to take the set, allowing Taylor to move 2-1 ahead and take control.
From there, the 57-year-old did not look back, surging to a 6-1 victory with an average of 100, five 180s and 50 percent, as shown by Live Darts:
Christopher Kempf at the PDC showed how Taylor took advantage of the inexperienced Lewis:
However, it was still a superb showing from Lewis, while 16-time world champion Taylor is in the final yet again. Sky Sports Darts showed his moment of victory:
His hopes of a dream ending to his career are still intact, but to do so he must beat Cross in the showdown on New Year's Day.
Cross took the opening set in the second semi-final, but his lead did not last long, as Van Gerwen hit back straight away.
There was little to chose between either player early on. Cross restored his lead with a 104 average before the Dutchman responded again with four 180s and a 101.6 average to make it 2-2, per Live Darts:
However, Cross then managed a superb 161 checkout on the bull to move 3-2 ahead and give his opponent plenty to think about.
The two men exchanged the next three sets to set up a 4-4 tie following the eighth set. Van Gerwen appeared poised to reach his second straight final after coming back from two legs down to take the ninth set and claim a 5-4 advantage.
Cross didn't appear to be rattled and responded by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the 10th set.
That set the stage for a dramatic final set. Ver Gerwen seemingly had one foot in the final as he needed just 16 points to close things out. However, his attempt to hit a double-eight failed, and he recorded just eight points with his first throw. He followed up by missing both of his throws for a double-four.
Cross still had to close out the final set and helped himself in a big way by notching 124 points with his fifth throw. That left just 16 points on the board, and Cross connected with a double-eight to clinch the victory.