Premiere at Ally Pally: The 23-year-old Dutchman Gian van Veen reached the final of the Darts World Cup for the first time in his career. In the second semi-final on Friday evening, the number ten in the world rankings beat Scottish legend Gary Anderson 6-3.
Gian van Veen crowned his phenomenal run at the 2026 Darts World Cup by reaching the final. There he will face defending champion and world number one Luke Littler on Saturday, who beat Ryan Searle 6-1 in the first match of the evening.
Van Veen won a close and hard-fought game against two-time Scottish world champion Gary Anderson 6-3.
Darts duel at eye level
Although the result suggests that the game was one-sided, the game was always close. Anderson won the first set 3-1, van Veen won the second set 3-1. Sets three, four and five all went the full distance. Each time the Dutchman, 32 years his junior, came out on top because he scored and/or finished better in the crucial moments.
When the game seemed almost decided at 4-1 in the sets, Anderson turned up the heat. In the sixth set, the old master played an average of 110 and hit each of his three double attempts. In the seventh set he performed similarly well and reduced the score to 3:4.
The eighth round brought the preliminary decision: Van Veen took the set 3-2 because Anderson let down the scoring in the fifth leg. In the ninth set it was the doubles that the “Flying Scotsman” (2 out of 9 hits) despaired of and made van Veen celebrate.
“The Giant” wants his second major title
At Ally Pally, “The Giant” is now reaching for the second major title of his career. He won his first this year at the European Championship in Dortmund. At that time he was also happy about prize money of 120,000 pounds. As a finalist in the World Championships, he has already secured another 400,000 pounds. The winner on Saturday will even collect £1,000,000.
Anderson also falls financially after his semi-final participation. He collects prize money of 200,000 pounds. The 55-year-old “Flying Scotsman” proved that he is far from being a thing of the past. After a disappointing 2025 season in which he didn’t make it past the quarterfinals in a single major tournament, he indicated that he would continue to be a force to be reckoned with even in his old age.