Humphries, no longer number one since this weekend, but number two in the world, got off to an excellent start and decided the first leg with a 145 finish. The Englishman, who was motivated to the core, immediately put enormous pressure on Van Veen and also took control of the next two legs.
But the European champion was not easily discouraged and took back the fourth leg with a beautiful 161 finish via the bullseye. Van Veen also decided the fifth leg with the bullseye: 3-2. The Englishman then pressed the accelerator again and took a 4-2 lead, but Van Veen then came back to 4-3.
Gian van Veen (23) can add two darts titles to his list of achievements this weekend
Thriller between Van Veen and Humphries
Van Veen initially forgot to capitalize on opportunities to take over the eighth leg, but after misses by Humphries, the 23-year-old darts player leveled again: 4-4. Van Veen even took the lead with double 16, but due to missed tops he could not yet take the win and so the score became 5-5.
Three chances at double 12 for Van Veen all went wrong, but Humphries also missed. A dart in the same double 12 was then enough to walk away with the win: 6-5. Van Veen has won the last four of the eight meetings with Humphries.
Raymond van Barneveld down
Raymond van Barneveld immediately flew away in the first round. With an average of only 76.9, he lost to Krzysztof Ratajski (6-3). The five-time world champion quickly fell behind 2-0 in Minehead, but grabbed a break thanks to triple 20 and double 8 and capitalized on it in the next leg.
Yet his Polish opponent, who did not throw a high-quality match with an average of 83.94, then took one leg after the other. Ratajski finally put Barney out of his misery and took the deciding leg after a double 16: 6-3.
Darter drives 6 hours to replace sick player at Players Championship Finals and is eliminated in fifteen minutes
Danny Noppert impresses
Danny Noppert started his match against Ricky Evans with a break, which he had to complete with his ‘wrong’ left arm, because the flight of one of his already thrown arrows almost completely blocked the double. TheFreeze then capitalized on the break with a 12-darter in his own leg.
Noppert was lord and master against Evans, who recently surprised at the Grand Slam of Darts, and also achieved a wonderful 164 finish. De Fries recorded a nice average of 103.84 and defeated the Englishman by a wide margin: 6-2.
Zonneveld and Doets lose, Wattimena wins against Plaisier
Niels Zonneveld pitched against Nick Kenny on Friday afternoon. The Dutchman had a good start, but then he missed double after double and Kenny was able to take the lead with a break lead. Zonneveld fought back to 4-4, but it was Kenny who struck the decisive blow and eliminated the Dutchman with two finishes in a row above 100: 6-4.
Then Kevin Doets also crashed. The only bright spot in the lost match with Callan Rydz (6-4) was the 170 finish of the 27-year-old darts player, who missed many doubles. In the first Dutch meeting of the day, Jermaine Wattimena won 6-3 against Wesley Plaisier. The darts player from Gelderland initially fell behind, but grabbed a break and won four legs in a row. Plaisier came back to 4-3, but Wattimena took control of the next two legs.
Wessel Nijman and Dirk van Duijvenbode crashed
Second-seeded Wessel Nijman surprisingly lost to Richard Veenstra in the second Dutch meeting. The 25-year-old darts player from Uitgeest kept all his legs, until the final decisive eleventh leg after a 5-5 score. Nijman missed on tops, while Veenstra managed to find double 20 in his second attempt: 6-5.
Dirk van Duijvenbode also failed to survive the first round. Madars Razma was too strong with 6-3. After three legs Aubergenius already down 3-0. An irritated Van Duijvenbode came back from 4-1 down to 4-3 and grabbed a break, but was unable to capitalize on it and saw Razma lead to 6-3.
Jeffrey de Graaf, born in the Netherlands, but who plays for Sweden, competed against the new number 1 in the world, Luke Littler (18), on Friday evening. De Graaf retained the first leg, but then proved to be no match for the young Englishman: 6-1.
Michael van Gerwen absent
Michael van Gerwen is missing from the tournament. The 36-year-old top darts player had not yet qualified in mid-October and decided to pass up the last opportunities to spend some extra time with his children after a turbulent year.