Luke Humphries cruised into the third round 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 one of the standout displays of the tournament.
On day 12 of the £5 million event, defending 2023/24 world champion Humphries underlined his title ambitions by brushing aside the hugely popular Singaporean veteran Lim 3–0. The world number two stormed through the opening two sets without dropping a leg, averaging over 108 during a dominant spell. Although Lim managed to claim a single leg in the third set, Humphries stayed in control, sealing the match with a 50 percent success rate on the doubles. He will next take on Gabriel Clemens after Christmas.
Van Veen, meanwhile, delivered a sensational performance to beat Alan Soutar 3–1, recording a tournament-high average of 108.28 and producing relentless scoring throughout. After losing the opening set and surviving a set dart in the second, the Dutchman reeled off seven consecutive legs to book his place in round three for the first time in his career, where he will face Madars Razma.
Nathan Aspinall also progressed comfortably, whitewashing Leonard Gates with identical 3–1 leg scorelines in each set to reach the last 32. The former World Matchplay champion said he felt far more relaxed than in his opening match and believes his confidence is at an all-time high ahead of a clash with Kevin Doets.
Elsewhere, Ricky Evans edged out James Wade in a dramatic five-set thriller, eventually prevailing 6–4 in a deciding tie-break despite missing seven match darts. Evans will meet debutant Charlie Manby next, after the 20-year-old continued his impressive run by defeating Adam Sevada in straight sets.
Doets ended David Munyua’s fairytale debut with a composed 3–0 win, dropping just two legs despite strong crowd support for the Kenyan trailblazer. Gabriel Clemens caused another surprise by whitewashing Wessel Nijman, while Razma secured his third consecutive last-32 appearance with a 3–1 victory over Darren Beveridge.
Action resumes on Tuesday as round two concludes ahead of the Christmas break, with Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and Danny Noppert all in action as the World Championship gathers further momentum at Alexandra Palace.
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