Once more, Alexandra Palace transformed into a cathedral of controlled chaos, hosting a breathless, high-octane symphony of tungsten violence in which the reigning champion strode forward with imperial calm, while the rest of us were strapped into our seats and force-fed yet another spine-tingling, nerve-shredding, utterly intoxicating chapter of the 2026 PDC Paddy Power World Championship.
World number one, Luke Littler roared, thundered and blasted his way into a third consecutive final, not merely overcoming Ryan Searle, but issuing a seismic declaration to the rest of the darting world: the crown is not going anywhere without a fight. The 6-1 scoreline was emphatic. The message even more so.
Most anticipated a Littler victory with room to breathe, but what unfolded was a masterclass in escalation. After briefly stalling at the start line, The Nuke ignited the afterburners and vanished into the distance, leaving Heavy Metal chasing shadows and scoreboards.Searle struck first. Opening set secured on throw, a vital early foothold. Against the reigning champion, surrendering first blood can be terminal.
Ironically, Littler still rattled in a 105 average, yet it was the Devonian who snatched the set in the deciding leg. A warning flare, perhaps.Then the tone shifted. Set two arrived and Searle may well have cursed the interval. His scoring slipped into the 80s – and not the nostalgic kind – while Littler steadied, recalibrated, and levelled proceedings.
The true turning point arrived one set later. Finely poised at 2–2 with darts in hand, Searle had the opportunity to hold and reassert control. He blinked. Littler did not. What followed was a siege.Nine consecutive legs. Three sets. Absolute domination. The scoreboard ballooned to 5–1 and the contest slipped firmly into inevitability.
The streak was finally broken in a moment even Littler couldn’t help but admire, as Searle did what he does best and reeled in a majestic Big Fish. The crowd erupted. Smiles exchanged. Respect acknowledged.Five minutes later, it was over. The champ’s numbers were savage.
A 105-plus average. Nearing 60 percent on the doubles. “Just” ten maximums – a statistic that somehow feels modest for Littler – but the treble 20 was punished with merciless regularity. Clinical. Composed. Colossal.
Then came semi-final number two. A generational collision. Gian van Veen, reigning back-to-back World Youth Champion and European Champion, against Gary Anderson, a two-time world champion and living monument to tungsten excellence. Youth versus legacy. Future versus folklore.
One of the very few sports that can deliver such theatre. And it delivered. The opening acts mirrored one another perfectly. Anderson claimed the first set against the darts. Van Veen responded in kind, a carbon-copy 3–1. All square.
In the third, a last-gasp hold from the Dutchman nudged him ahead. Ten minutes later, he extended that lead after five legs of darting of the highest order. Then the match caught fire. What followed was an epic so intoxicating even Wayne Mardle admitted on commentary he had rarely seen better. A full-distance set of outrageous quality. Both players detonated 170 checkouts. The Palace rose. The tension strangled the air. Deciding leg. Van Veen to throw. In a heartbeat, it was done. Last dart in hand, the Dutch prodigy pinned the winning double. Anderson sat stranded on tops, denied even a glance. Agony.
The set averages told their own ridiculous story – 111.46 for Van Veen, an absurd 117.44 for Anderson. Millimetres from 3–2. Instead, 4–1 and suddenly the mountain looked perilously steep for the Flying Scotsman.
But champions remember the way back down. Anderson surged. Took set six. Then, after flirting with disaster on the doubles, was handed a reprieve and seized it to edge the next. The gap narrowed. 4–3. Momentum swung violently toward the 55-year-old titan. For Van Veen, this was the examination. The crucible. The defining moment of a fledgling elite career. He passed.Two legs done in the eighth set. Both Van Veen. Then chaos. Four missed set darts allowed Anderson to drag it to another decider. Crucially, the Scot had the throw. One leg away from parity. One leg away from flipping the entire match. Instead, Van Veen unleashed a moment of destiny. After an opening 100 from Anderson, the Dutchman hammered in a maximum, broke throw, and surged to a 5–3 lead.
A moment of monumental importance. All that remained was composure. Hold throw. Write history.It wasn’t straightforward. Nothing in this match was. But after one of the most electrifying, high-quality semi-finals Alexandra Palace has ever witnessed, Gian van Veen crossed the line and booked his place in the World Championship final.
The stage is set. Littler versus Van Veen. Youth against youth. Who wins? Honestly… anyone’s guess.
SEMI-FINALS – RESULTS
Luke Littler 6-1 Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen 6-3 Gary Anderson
——Ends——-
Images: PDC
