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IMPERIOUS VAN VEEN STUNS HUMPHRIES TO STORM INTO ALLY PALLY SEMI-FINALS

Gian van Veen produced a mesmerising display to stun Luke Humphries and storm into his maiden Paddy Power World Darts Championship semi-final on New Year's Day, as he joined Luke Littler, Gary Anderson and Ryan Searle in the final four.

The opening day of darting action in 2026 saw the quarter-finals take place on a bumper day at Alexandra Palace, and it was European Champion Van Veen who stole the headlines.
The 23-year-old came into this year's showpiece without a win on the sport's biggest stage, but he reaffirmed his title credentials with a comprehensive 5-1 demolition of the world number two. Van Veen had won each of his four meetings against Humphries in 2025, and he extended that remarkable run in some style, averaging 105.41 and crashing in 11 maximums in the process.

"I am so over the moon - I'm so proud," beamed Van Veen, who will become the new Dutch number one after this year's tournament - leapfrogging three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen. "I felt really, really good today. Luke is a fantastic player, and you know that you have to perform at your best to beat him. "I always said the European Championship would be my best ever win, but this is probably the biggest win of my career. This feeling is indescribable!"

Van Veen - aided by 120 and 124 finishes - drew first blood in a high-quality opening set, before Humphries delivered an immediate riposte to restore parity at one apiece. However, Van Veen regained the initiative following an edgy conclusion to set three, before conjuring up a sensational 170 finish and a ten-darter on his way to extending his advantage to 3-1. Despite wiring the bull for another 170 outshot - Van Veen then came out on top in a crucial fifth-set decider, and he capped off an imperious display in fitting style, sealing the victory with an 11-darter.

Elsewhere, reigning champion Littler continued his bid for back-to-back titles in the capital, courtesy of a straight-sets demolition of Krzysztof Ratajski.
Littler conjured up a sensational 170 finish to clinch a hard-fought opening set, sparking a brutal seven-leg winning run which left Ratajski staring down the barrel. The teenage wonderkid also produced a 128 checkout on the bull and a brace of 100 checkouts during this spell, but Poland's number one launched a spirited comeback in set four. Nevertheless, Ratajski later spurned three darts to reduce the arrears to 3-1, and Littler punished his rival's profligacy in typically ruthless fashion to complete a darting demolition job.

"I didn't feel comfortable tonight, but a win is a win," claimed Littler, despite averaging 100, hitting ten 180s and pinning 55% of his attempts at double. "I was changing the way I was holding my dart, but hopefully now I'm playing day after day, I will perform better tomorrow. "I think that first set was crucial. I've not gone a set down in this tournament yet, and to win the set by hitting the big fish, it felt even better!"

Littler's reward is a last four clash against Searle, who dispatched fifth seed Jonny Clayton 5-2 to advance to his maiden World Championship semi-final. The 38-year-old raced into a commanding 3-0 lead - punishing some errant finishing from the Welshman to win his 17th consecutive set in this year's tournament. Clayton halted that remarkable sequence with a fourth set rearguard, but Searle - aided by a clutch 111 checkout to wrap up set five - regained control to celebrate a landmark victory.

"It's a special feeling," admitted Searle, who provisionally moves into the world's top eight for the first time in his career. "My scoring wasn't great today, but I felt like in the high-pressure moments, I was finding some really good finishes. "There's a lot of pressure on you and it's hard to perform under that, but I'm proud of myself to get over the line and we'll see where we go tomorrow."

New Year's Day's other quarter-final saw Anderson overcome the tournament's surprise package Justin Hood to advance to his eighth World Championship semi-final. The two-time World Champion unleashed a blistering late barrage to wrap up a convincing 5-2 success, winning nine of the last ten legs to continue his pursuit of the Sid Waddell Trophy. The Scot controlled proceedings from the outset, but Hood's clinical doubling kept him in contention, with the 32-year-old converting 101 and 100 checkouts to wrap up sets two and four respectively. However, Anderson hit back with a clean sweep in set five, before landing 72, 98, 121 and 161 checkouts in consecutive legs on his way to halting Hood's dream debut run.

"The crowd today - I've never heard noise like it," admitted Anderson, who averaged 99.44 and fired in a hat-trick of ton-plus finishes. "Justin [Hood] will take that to his grave with him. He deserves it for what he's done this year. Nobody knows him they said; they know him now! "I don't think it makes any difference who you play now; they're all talented players, so we'll see what happens!"

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship semi-finals will take place on Friday evening, as Littler kicks off proceedings against Searle, before Van Veen and Anderson go head-to-head.

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).


Afternoon

Searle 5:2 Clayton (3:1, 3:0, 3:1, 1:3, 3:2, 1:3, 3:0)
Anderson 5:2 Hood (3:0, 1:3, 3:0, 2:3, 3:0, 3:1, 3:0)

Statistics - Quarterfinals

Evening


Littler 5:0 Ratajski (3:2, 3:0, 3:0, 3:2, 3:1)
Humphries 1:5 v.Veen (2:3, 3:1, 2:3, 1:3, 2:3, 1:3)

Statistics - Fourth Round

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