Phil Taylor and James Wade reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay with wins over Andy Hamilton and Michael van Gerwen respectively.
Taylor continued the defence of his title with a 16-11 quarter-final defeat of Hamilton.
Hamilton hammered in 12 180s but the world No 1 accelerated away from his tenacious opponent in the later stages of an absorbing last-eight tie, finishing the job in style with a 170 checkout.
The Power came into the match knowing defeat would spell the end of his time at the top of the rankings, and there were ominous early signs as Hamilton fired a 12-darter to break for a 2-0 lead.
Taylor responded by reeling off four legs, but Hamilton's scoring was consistently heavy and he remained in touch even when the 15-times world champion moved three clear at 7-4 and 10-7.
Maximums in successive legs brought Hamilton back to within one at 10-9, and when he opened the 20th leg with another 180 the heat was on.
But Taylor responded like a champion, taking the leg on double 16 and adding three more in short order - including a 14-darter and an 11-darter.
Hamilton kept fighting only to miss double 16 for 14-11, and Taylor closed the job in style.
Wade held off a storming fightback from van Gerwen to clinch a 16-13 victory in an enthralling quarter-final clash.
The left-hander looked to be cruising to a last-four clash with Terry Jenkins when he opened up a 10-4 lead, taking out 116 in leg two and a superb 146 checkout in the 11th leg.
Wade also nailed a 122 finish to go 11-5 ahead before the Dutch youngster rallied in style to win the next four legs.
Van Gerwen punished three missed doubles to close the gap to 11-12, but Wade responded with clinical finishes of 72 and 86 to claim a 14-11 lead.
The pair then traded 13-dart legs before Wade ended a high-quality encounter with a two-dart 71 checkout which earned him a clash with the in-form Jenkins on Saturday evening.
