Gian van Veen has become a challenger to superstar Luke Littler at the Darts World Cup with a fantastic performance. The 23-year-old impressed against Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals and is the new number one in the Netherlands.
Was it another surprise? Maybe the clarity. Gian van Veen stormed into the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship with a 5-1 win over Luke Humphries. The Dutchman played an average of 111 in the last three sets alone and ended up with 105.41 points and a doubles rate of 55 percent.
Impressive numbers after an impressive performance against the number two seed. “My grin will not disappear in the next 24 hours,” said van Veen, who will meet his idol Gary Anderson on Friday evening in only the third major semi-final of his career: “This victory is probably bigger than my title at the European Darts Championships.”
Above all, it has a big impact. With his victory, van Veen has secured 200,000 pounds in prize money, has currently moved up to third place in the world rankings and thus ends the era of Michael van Gerwen, who was number one in the Netherlands for 13 years.
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“I’m so proud. He was already number one when I started. My dream was always to be second best. Now I’m number one, but for us Dutch, Michael van Gerwen will always remain number one,” said the 23-year-old from Poederoijen.
Van Veen also checks the 170
Van Veen had already won all four duels with the 2024 world champion in 2025. And in the new year, too, the match was only on equal footing at the beginning. “He was significantly better in scoring in the first three sets, but missed a few doubles,” summarized the reigning junior world champion.
Humphries missed 167 in the fifth leg to win set one. So there was no parallel to the other Luke. Littler had previously made it 1-0 against Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski with a 170 in his quarterfinal.
After the 2-1 win, van Veen was unstoppable. Humphries checked 158 points again in the fourth round to make it 1:2 after legs, otherwise the Dutchman provided the highlights. Three high finishes, including a 170, rounded off the very good impression.
This makes him the only one who was able to keep up with top favorite Littler throughout the entire tournament and is now considered the favorite for the final. Littler himself had already predicted van Veen as the winner before the last quarter-final of the tournament. The 18-year-old is expecting the Netherlands’ new number one in the final on Saturday evening. Before that, both have to win their semi-finals on Friday from 8:45 p.m. against Ryan Searle and Anderson.
If Lutz Wöckener Not exactly trying out any sport on his own, he writes about darts and sports politics, but sometimes also about offbeat things like football.
Darts World Cup 2026, results
Quarterfinals:
- Ryan Searle (ENG/20) – Jonny Clayton (WAL/5) 5:2 (3:1, 3:0, 3:1, 1:3, 3:2, 1:3, 3:0)
- Gary Anderson (SCO/14) – Justin Hood (ENG) 5:2 (3:0, 1:3, 3:0, 2:3, 3:0, 3:1, 3:0)
- Luke Littler (ENG/1) – Krzysztof Ratajski (POL) 5:0 (3:2, 3:0, 3:0, 3:2, 3:1)
- Luke Humphries (ENG/2) – Gian van Veen (NED/10) 1:5 (2:3, 3:1, 2:3, 1:3, 2:3, 1:3)
Semifinals:
- Luke Littler (ENG/1) – Ryan Searle (ENG/20)
- Gian van Veen (NED/10) – Gary Anderson (SCO/14)
