Luke Humphries cruised into round three of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship with a commanding straight-sets victory over Paul Lim, while Gian van Veen lit up Alexandra Palace with a sensational performance on Monday night.
The 2023/24 World Champion needed little time to assert control against the evergreen Lim, racing into a two-set lead without conceding a leg and averaging over 108 during a blistering opening spell. Although Lim briefly slowed Humphries’ momentum in the third set, the world number two wrapped up a 3-0 win with a clinical 50% success rate on the doubles.
“I planned to win in straight sets and tonight there was no unnecessary drama,” said Humphries, who will meet Gabriel Clemens next.
“It was a great first leg from myself with a 12-darter and the first two sets were really clinical. I scored and finished really well.
“If you’re not getting a lot thrown back at you, it can get a lot harder. It felt like I was really comfortable and I relaxed too much.
“I know that when I come back from Christmas, I’ll be more consistent. I won’t have these 80s average sets – when the pressure is on me, that’s when I’m consistent.”
Earlier, Van Veen delivered arguably the performance of the tournament so far, demolishing Alan Soutar 3-1 with a staggering 108.28 average. The Dutchman survived a set dart in the second set before reeling off seven consecutive legs to reach round three at Ally Pally for the first time.
“There’s so much I can take from this game going forward,” Van Veen reflected.
“I got a bit lucky in the second set, but you need a bit of luck in these kind of tournaments.
“The last six legs are some of the best I’ve ever played, especially on this stage.
“This Christmas is going to be the best one of my life so far, still being in the World Championship. It was a massive goal for myself and thankfully I’ve achieved it this year.”
Nathan Aspinall also progressed with ease, brushing aside Leonard Gates 3-0 and setting up a last-32 clash with Kevin Doets.
“It was a straightforward win, I did what I had to do,” Aspinall said. “In the first game I was a bag of nerves, but I felt really good tonight.
“My confidence is the highest it’s ever been by an absolute country mile. I’m confident I can have a deep run.”
Elsewhere, Ricky Evans edged James Wade in a dramatic deciding-set tie-break, Charlie Manby impressed again on debut, and Doets ended David Munyua’s fairytale run. With round two concluding on Tuesday, Alexandra Palace now pauses for Christmas before the tournament resumes with heavyweight clashes still to come.
Source: PDC.TV
