22nd July Evening Session ( Blackpool ) Game 3 + 4

A red-hot Phil Taylor overcame a slow start to thrash Wes Newton 16-5 and reach the last four of the Sky Bet World Matchplay in Blackpool.

The defending champion found himself 4-1 down in a hurry to the local favourite from nearby Fleetwood before going on to win 15 of the next 16 legs.
The Power proved there's still plenty of life in him yet, finishing a one-sided match with a 70 percent checkout ratio and a three-dart average of 108.39.

"I thought I was going to lose 16-0 if I wasn't careful, because he was hitting everything."

"I keep plodding on," a modest Taylor told Sky Sports afterwards.
"Wes said to me up there 'why do you keep playing so well against me?' I told him 'it's because you set the goalposts'.
"I thought I was going to lose 16-0 if I wasn't careful, because he was hitting everything.
"Any player on the circuit will tell you how well Wes is playing. He's a great, great player, and he keeps on getting better."
Newton will look back on a missed chance in the 13th leg when he was just a wire away from making it 7-6. That proved to be the last real opening he had in the match, Taylor simply motoring away with some blistering darts.
Next up for the 15-time world champion will be Andy Hamilton, who produced the mother of all comebacks in the afternoon to knock out Simon Whitlock.

Wade wins

James Wade will face Adrian Lewis, who had earlier beaten Mark Webster, in the other semi-final after the left-hander recorded a hard-fought 16-11 victory over Raymond van Barneveld.
There was little to split the two in the opening 15 legs of a see-saw battle that was a repeat of last year's semi-final in the same tournament.
On that occasion it was Barney who came out on top and the Dutchman made an impressive start in the rematch, quickly taking a 2-0 lead after winning the opening leg against the throw.

Wade responded by taking the next four on the spin, three of them thanks to double top, but by the second interval they were locked together at 5-5.
They matched each other leg-for-leg after that until 'The Machine' finally broke clear, taking out 100 to move three legs in front for the first time at 11-8.
Although Barney continued to battle hard, his last real chance of glory disappeared when he failed to finish out in the 16th leg, allowing Wade to step in and land 128, his fourth century checkout.
"The first two games (of the tournament) didn't feel great but I went to practice and I thought, 'I feel good now'," he told Sky Sports. "But I played the game against Raymond there and it didn't quite click."
He added: "I don't think I'll ever achieve my top game, but I'll always be dangerous and a pain in the backside to all the other players."