Cool Hand, Luke Humphries has officially clocked in for duty at the 2026 PDC Paddy Power World Championships.
Ted Evetts gave it a go, but Humphries eased through the gears to bank a 3–1 win that screamed: I’m here, I’m sharp, and yes, I’ve seen what Littler did on night one.
Where pundits whisper “solid professional job,” normal humans see a near-ton average, eight maximums, and a man gliding around the stage like he owns a season ticket for Ally Pally. Humphries looked composed, compact, and chillingly in control. The sort of performance that doesn’t wow the highlight reels but scares the life out of anyone in his quarter of the draw.
Credit where it’s due — SuperTed didn’t just lie down and let the former world champ walk all over him. After dropping two sets, Evetts summoned a spirited third to halve the deficit and, for about seven minutes, make the entire arena wonder if something stupidly dramatic might be brewing.
Then Humphries slammed the door shut with a ruthless, ton-plus set that reminded everyone whose name is embossed on that trophy.If there’s one thing to nitpick, it’s the doubling. Thirty percent would win you a pub league match; against the big guns later in the tournament, you’ll get eaten alive. But for round one? Box ticked. Legs banked. Danger avoided. Cool Hand moves on.
But while the other famous Luke is lighting up headlines for being young enough to still get ID’d at a nightclub, another story stole the Ally Pally spotlight — one involving a man who was already throwing darts when the average PDC fan wasn’t even an ultrasound blur.At 71 years old, Paul Lim broke his own record as the oldest player to win a match on the famous Ally Pally stage.
The Singapore Slinger rolled back not just the years, but the decades, defeating Jeffrey de Graaf 3–1 and sending the crowd into nostalgic meltdown. This isn’t just longevity. This is time-bending sorcery. Lim made his first world championship appearance in 1982. Lakeside didn’t even play host back then – Jollies in Stoke did. The PDC didn’t exist. And half the people reading this didn’t exist. And he’s still winning matches.
De Graaf felt the full force of a crowd that would have carried Lim to the board on their shoulders if he’d asked. Two sets a-piece, tight as you like, but Lim’s timing — forged in half a century of tungsten warfare — was impeccable.
Winning the deciding legs in the next two sets, he booked himself a date with Luke Humphries in round two. If Lim pulls that off, the earth may actually tilt.
Next up was the Dutch prodigy, Wessel Nijman, who produced one of those performances where you can practically hear the commentary team scribbling “dark horse?” in their notes.
A three-set demolition of Karel Sedláček, fuelled by a ton-plus average and a finishing ratio clean enough to sterilise surgical instruments, and suddenly the whispers become declarations. Nijman didn’t just win — he looked dangerous doing it.
And closing out the night, Gabriel Clemens reminded everyone why they once called him Germany’s top darting hope, dispatching Alex Spellman 3–0.
Now look — Clemens wasn’t spectacular. He didn’t need to be. Spellman barely scraped past 80 and looked like the sight of the Ally Pally stage had drained every ounce of American bravado out of him. Winning one leg? In his own slang, that sucks.
The former Ally Pally semi-finalist, meanwhile, threw in a cheeky big fish for old times’ sake and collected the £10k jump for round progression with a smile that said: “I’ll take clean, not pretty.”
But reality bites: next up for the German Giant is Wessel Nijman, and if Clemens wants to avoid being thrown off the stage like a garden gnome in a tornado, that sub-90 average needs a dramatic upgrade.
A big night for favourites – assuming you fancied Mr Lim continuing to write his own fairytale. A massive night for legends. And a monumental night for Paul Lim, who continues to do things that physics — and common sense — insist he shouldn’t still be doing.
How far can he go?
SATURDAY 13th DECEMBER – Evening Session Results
Jeffrey De Graaf 1-3 Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman 3-0 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Humphries 3-1 Ted Evetts
Gabriel Clemens 3-0 Alex Spellman
—–Ends——
Images: PDC
