James Wade reached his first PDC world championship semi-final in nine years with a 5-0 win over Mervyn King at Alexandra Palace, while the two-times world champion Gary Anderson was forced to battle before coming past Luke Humphries with a 5-2 victory. Wade, the No 4 seed, has not made the last four since 2013 but had too much for King, who had also rolled back the clock in this tournament, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2009. In the day’s second quarter-final Anderson, world champion in 2015 and 2016 and a finalist last year, lost the opening set and was pegged back at 2-2 before reeling off three sets on the spin to secure a semi-final spot. Wade will face the winner of the late game between the reigning champion and No 1 seed Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith, while Anderson takes on the winner of Peter Wright and Callan Rydz.