Humphries or Littler? Littler or Humphries? The question of who will collect the one million pound bonus for the world championship title on January 3rd only has two answers, if any. One of the two Lukes will do the same as in the previous two years. Or maybe: Gian van Veen?
The Dutchman should have been included in the very narrow group of candidates since Monday evening at the latest. The 23-year-old, one of only three reigning ranking major winners alongside Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, set off fireworks in his second round match at Alexandra Palace, which the two favorites must have also taken note of. “One of the best performances we have ever seen in the second round,” said Sky presenter Abigail Davies correctly during the winner’s interview on stage.
The world number ten beat the extremely dangerous Alan Soutar 3-1. But the Scot – true to his job – started like a fire brigade. Van Veen’s average of 104.79 points was not enough to win the first set.
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In the second round, van Veen maintained his high level, finishing with an average of 104.39 points per shot, but still had to survive a set dart Soutars in the decider. The 47-year-old, ranked 54th in the world, hit the wrong double: 16 instead of 8. Bitter.
Van Veen punished the negligence and then shifted up a gear to be on the safe side. He made the 2-1 set lead spectacular with his 170 finish to make it 3-0. His set average this time: 107.36 points. And he didn’t miss a beat in the fourth set either and took legs number five, six and seven in a row. The set average: an incredible 121.86.
Experts choose van Veen as a candidate for the title
A furious performance that ultimately delivered fantastic values. William O’Connor had the highest average of this World Cup so far with 102.36 points in his first round win against Krzysztof Kciuk. Van Veen absolutely pulverized the numbers and ended up with 108.28 points. He hit seven 180s, hit 48 percent of his attempts on doubles and had just three shots without a triple in the entire match. Wow.
“He had already played well in the first two sets. The fact that he raised the level again was also due to his opponent. Soutar pushed him,” said John Part, PDC world champion in 2003 and 2008, on British TV.
The Canadian viewed van Veen’s game as a challenge to the major title candidates. “Maybe the others are now coming out of their guard a little bit. In any case, it’s very nice to see that he’s getting his game on stage here. That’s not something to be taken for granted, because it’s a special place.”
In his first two World Cup participations in 2024 and 2025, the Dutchman was eliminated immediately in the first match. Now he is in round three. The duel with the Latvian Madars Razma after the Christmas break will probably just be another stopover, Part also believes: “He should now be on a lot of people’s lists.” Former professional Mark Webster went one step further: “It’s always about the Lukes, but everyone has to have van Veen on their list after this performance.”
Darts World Cup 2026, 2nd round, results
- Darren Beveridge (SCO) – Madars Razma (LAT) 1:3 (0:3, 2:3, 3:1, 2:3)
- Westel Nijman (NED/31) – Gabriel Clemen (D) 0:3 (1:3, 2:3, 1:3)
- David Munyua (KEN)
- James Wade (ENG/7) – Ricky Evans (ENG) 2:3 n.V. (2:3, 3:1, 2:3, 3:0, 4:6)
- Gian van Veen (NED/10) – Alan Soutar (SCO) 3:1 (1:3, 3:3, 3:0, 3:0)
- Nathan Aspinall (ENG/15) – Leonard Gates (USA) 3:0 (3:1, 3:1, 3:1)
- Luke Humphries (ENG/2) – Paul Lim (SIN) 3:0 (3:0, 3:0, 3:1)
- Charlie Manby (ENG) – Adam Sevada (USA) 3:0 (3:0, 3:0, 3:1)
If Lutz Wöckener Not exactly trying out any sport on his own, he writes about darts and sports politics, but sometimes also something off-kilter like football.
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