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Jonathan Liew
Old acquaintance forgot, and never brought to mind. A new year, a new crowd and perhaps even a clean slate for the world champion, Luke Littler, who continued his largely untroubled progress towards back-to-back titles with an embarrassingly one-sided 5-0 win over Krzysztof Ratajski in Thursday night’s first quarter-final.
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Match stats
Averages
Humphries 101.12
Van Veen 105.41
Checkouts
Humphries 11/32 (34.38%)
Van Veen 16/29 (55.17%)
180s
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Gian van Veen’s reaction
You see this smile? It won’t go away in the next 24 hours. I’m so over the moon. I felt really good all day and a 105 averages sums that up. Unbelievable.
He’s a fantastic player. We all know we have to play at our best to even have a chance to beat Luke. Luckily I did that toyda.
In the first two sets I felt comfortablish, but his scoring was way better. He missed a couple of chances, I took the third set and then my scoring was way better.
[Is it the biggest win of your career?] 100 per cent. I’m… over the moon.
[On becoming the highest ranked Dutchman] I’m so proud. As a Dutchman you know Michael [van Gerwen] will be No1, so to be No2 is your aim. It feels so good to be above him – but for all us Dutchmen, Michael is still the No1.
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night against my idol Gary Anderson. I’ll be ready.
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Van Veen hit another 180 on the Humphries throw to leave 45. This time it was Humphries’ turn to miss the bull for a 170, allowing Van Veen to win the match on D16. It’s his fifth straight victory over Luke Humphries, three of them at major tournaments.
Humphries is as gracious as ever in defeat. He’s been hammered, ultimately, even if it was a close game in a lot of ways. The fifth legs of sets were decisive. But after a slightly nervous start, Van Veen reached a blistering standard and finished with a match average of 105.41. Most importantly, he hit 55 per cent of his doubles. As Wayne Mardle says, it was the display of a man fit to become world champion.
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Updated at 16.45 EST
Gian van Veen thrashes Luke Humphries 5-1!
A stunning victory from Gian van Veen, and an even better performance!
Netherlands’ Gian van Veen (left) celebrates after winning his match against England’s Luke Humphries. Photograph: Steven Paston/PAShare
Updated at 16.42 EST
*Humphries (1) 1-2 (4) Van Veen An unyielding leg is won on D8 by Van Veen, with Humphries poised on 44 for a break. Instead he has to hold throw to stay in the competition.
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Humphries (1) 1-1 (4) Van Veen* Humphries hits a defiant 180 and eventually holds throw on D3 – but only after a major scare when Van Veen missed the bull for his second 170 of the night.
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*Humphries (1) 0-1 (4) Van Veen And now Van Veen is only two legs away. He has been sensational since the mid-point of the third set, unquestionably the better player. In fact, though Luke Littler is rightly the favourite, Van Veen has so far been the best player in the whole tournament.
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It’s less than half an hour ago that Van Veen nicked a hold of throw to stop a dominant Luke Humphries going 2-0 up in the third set. And now look.
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Match stats so far
Averages
Humphries 99.20
Van Veen 104.29
Checkouts
Humphries 10/28 (35.71%)
Van Veen 13/23 (56.52%)
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Van Veen wins the fifth set 3-2!
Humphries 1-4 Van Veen A devastating break from Gian van Veen leaves Luke Humphries on the brink of defeat! Van Veen misses the bull for his second 170 of the match – but Humphries, who looks a bit befuddled at how this is unfolding, couldn’t set up from 95.
Van Veen did the necessary on D8. He will have the darts in the sixth set.
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*Humphries (1) 2-2 (3) Van Veen This is so good. Van Veen hits another 180 to leave 41 after nine and eventually holds in 11. Luke Humphries has got to win the next leg or he is officially in all sorts.
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Humphries (1) 2-1 (3) Van Veen* A nerveless hold under pressure from Humphries, 14 darts I think. Van Veen threatened to set up from 138 only to miss his second attempt at T19.
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*Humphries (1) 1-1 (3) Van Veen Humphries misses three darts for a break! Van Veen put pressure on that visit by hitting 180 to leave 45, then returned to pinch the leg on D16. As Wayne Mardell says on Sky, he just can’t get away from Van Veen in a se.t
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Humphries (1) 1-0 (3) Van Veen* A crucial hold of throw for Humphries, despite two 180s in the leg from Van Veen. He was waiting on 16 for a break when Humphries took out 78 with his first – and potentially last – dart at tops. That’s such a good dart under pressure.
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“Evening Rob,” says Nick Parish. “I trust the Guardian provides you with some whizzy dictation software to cover this match. They’re throwing the arrows so quickly you’d have to be a 1980s typing pool whizz to be able to keep up typing in the old-fashioned way.”
We’re very old-fashioned at Guardian Towers. In fact, here’s some exclusive footage of our liveblog dungeon office.
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It’s way too early to write off Humphries. But if he does lose this, the second leg of the third set – when he missed multiple chances to break a struggling Van Veen – will haunt him.
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Van Veen wins the fourth set 3-1!
Humphries 1-3 Van Veen Pulsating stuff from Gian van Veen. He breaks Humphries with a 10-darter – he was six into a nine – to move within two sets of his first World Championship semi-final.
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*Humphries (1) 1-2 (2) Van Veen Van Veen misses three doubles for the set. Humphries is on 158 with an outside chance of keeping the set alive. An outside chance my foot: Humphries takes it out magnificently to deny Van Veen and break back.
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Humphries (1) 0-2 (2) Van Veen* Luke Humphries is in trouble. Two more misses at double are punished by Van Veen, who has won five of the last six legs and has a formidable checkout percentage of 64.
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Van Veen takes out a 170!
*Humphries (1) 0-1 (2) Van Veen The match has turned on its head. Van Veen takes out the big fish – he didn’t need to go for it – and barely celebrates at all. As Mark Webster and Wayne Mardle suggest on Sky, he wants to get on with this because he’s having an excellent spell.
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Van Veen wins the third set 3-2!
Humphries 1-2 Van Veen Another break gives Van Veen the third set against the throw! It was a crazy leg: Humphries, his line suddenly all over the place, had nine darts from 180 without getting a shot at a double. Van Veen missed a few before hitting D10 to take a lead that looked unlikely a few minutes ago.
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Updated at 16.05 EST
*Humphries (1) 2-2 (1) Van Veen Humphries breaks straight back! Van Veen was waiting on tops for the set when Humphries hit double eight with his third dart. The mental strength of these elite players is ludicrous.
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Humphries (1) 1-2 (1) Van Veen* The life of the mind, part 955634634527: Van Veen, who was playing pretty poorly until stealing the previous leg on his own throw, suddenly finds his rhythm and breaks Humphries in 11 darts. Now he’s throwing for the set.
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*Humphries (1) 1-1 (1) Van Veen Humphries bangs in his sixth 180, only to miss two darts at double. Van Veen, on 120, hits single one with his first draft – but Humphries can’t clean up 10 on his next visit. Van Veen steals a hold by hitting tops, last dart in hand.
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Humphries (1) 1-0 (1) Van Veen* There’s no real pressure on Van Veen to win this set, as it’s against the darts, but he’ll be slightly concerned about the flow of this game. Another clinical hold, in which he hits D8 at the first attempt, moves Humphries ahead in set three.
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Updated at 15.57 EST
Set three
The players are back on stage after the break. Humphries has the darts in this set.
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Humphries wins the second set 3-1!
Humphries 1-1 Van Veen Humphries calmly hits double six to take the set against the throw with an average of 105. That’s a really good response to the mild shock of losing the first set.
Van Veen threw some loose darts in that set. He still averaged 95, which shows how much we expect of him.
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*Humphries (0) 2-1 (1) Van Veen Good work from Van Veen, who makes Humphries serve it out by holding comfortably.
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Humphries (0) 2-0 (1) Van Veen* Humphries has a beautiful rhythm right now. He hits back-to-back 180s to leave 84 after nine; and though he misses a shot at D8, he goes out on double four for another 13-darter.
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*Humphries (0) 1-0 (1) Van Veen Humphries starts the second set with an unfussy 13-dart break. An unfussy 13-dart break! It’s the behaviour of a champion.
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First set averages
Humphries 103.43
Van Veen 103.71
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Van Veen wins the first set 3-2!
Humphries 0-1 Van Veen Van Veen breaks to win the first set! He put Humphries under so much pressure in that deciding leg, yet Humphries still almost stole the set when he missed the ball for a 167.
Van Veen, who was waiting on 24, cleaned up on D6. Darts contests can change so quickly; it’s less than five minutes since Van Veen needed a 124 finish to stay in the set.
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Updated at 15.41 EST
*Humphries (0) 2-2 (0) Van Veen What a finish from Van Veen! He takes out 124 on the bull to hold throw with Humphries waiting on a two-dart finish. Both men hit their second 180s in an excellent leg.
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Humphries (0) 2-1 (0) Van Veen* Both men have started strongly on their own throw; Humphries wipes out 80 in two darts to hold in 14.
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*Humphries (0) 1-1 (0) Van Veen There’s a cracking pace to the game, which will suit both players. The second leg has some scruffier moments, including a visit from 24 from Humphries. He’s still back on 155 when Van Veen hits 120 for a 15-dart hold of his own.
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Humphries (0) 1-0 (0) Van Veen* After the explosive start, Humphries wires the bull for a 124 finish. No matter: he returns to hold in 15 darts.
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Strap in, folks: both players have just started the match with 180s…
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The walk-ons Both players look pretty relaxed as they head towards the stage. I Predict a Riot – Humphries’ walk-on music – has gone down well with the crowd as always.
In the current rankings this is No 2 v No 10, but Van Veen is provisionally No5 in the updated rankings – and he’ll move to No3 if he wins tonight.
A reminder that Van Veen won all four games against Humphries in 2025, including two biggies at the Matchplay and European Championship. Let’s get on with business.
Luke Humphries during his walk on. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 15.37 EST
Luke Humphries has won the bull and will throw first against Gian van Veen. Two men with a combined age of 53 are about to compete for the right to face Gary Anderson, 55, in tomorrow’s semi-final. This could be a belter.
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Luke Littler’s reaction
He’s doing the interview off stage tonight, in the Sky Sports studio.
The crowd were very good tonight. New year, maybe I’ve got some new fans!
[On his semi-final opponent Ryan Searle] He’s not dropped a set yet (sic). Hopefully we can have a good game tomorrow night.
I had a test last round so this round I wanted a straightforward game if possible.
[On who he thinks will win the upcoming game] Gian van Veen. I saw the head-to-head record earlier. Luke said he’d win the worlds so there’s a bit of pressure there. I think it’ll go all the way.
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Updated at 15.23 EST
Match stats
Average
Littler 100.04
Ratajski 96.75
Checkouts
Littler 15/27 (55.56%)
Ratajski 5/22 (22.73%)
180s
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Luke Littler beats Krzysztof Ratajski 5-0
That’ll do. Littler breezes into his third successive semi-final at Ally Pally after proving too good for Ratajski. He finished the match on double 10 before saluting a crowd who were generally on his side all night. Littler will now play Ryan Searle tomorrow night; Searle will need to finish like never before to stand a chance.
Job done for Luke Littler. Photograph: Steven Paston/PAShare
Updated at 15.38 EST
*Littler (4) 2-1 (0) Ratajski Littler will throw for the match after again punishing a missed double from Ratajski. By his standards, Littler has been merely excellent tonight: he’s averaging 100 and has his more than 50 per cent of his doubles. And he’s still romping to a 5-0 victory.
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Littler (4) 1-1 (0) Ratajski* A missed opportunity to break for Ratajski. He starts with a 180 and is first to a two-treble finish – but he misses the big single to set up a double and is inevitably made to pay.
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*Littler (4) 0-1 (0) Ratajski The last quarter-final whitewash was in 2023, when Michael van Gerwen overwhelmed Chris Dobey, though Luke Humphries also beat Scott Williams 6-0 in the 2024 semi-final
Ratajski, who has played really well bar one or two key doubles, is determined to avoid a 5-0 defeat and holds his throw with Littler miles back on 261.
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Littler wins the fourth set 3-2!
Littler 4-0 Ratajski Littler starts the deciding set with 58; Ratajski follows him with another 180. Ratajski stays ahead for most of the leg and misses the bull for a 167. He returns on 25 and has two more darts for the set, both on D8. They go awry and Littler cleans up with the aid of his best mate double 10.
It feels a bit harsh on Ratajski, who had his best set of the match, but that’s the game.
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Updated at 15.02 EST
*Littler (3) 2-2 (0) Ratajski We’re heading for a deciding leg in the fourth set. A quality leg, which both players start with 180s, is won in 11 darts by Ratajski.
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Littler (3) 2-1 (0) Ratajski* Littler misses the bull for his second 170 of the night. That leads to a bit of a dance around the board, but he has enough time to get the job done on D5.
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