Luke Humphries breezed through to round three at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship with a whitewash win over Paul Lim, as Gian van Veen produced a mesmerising performance on Monday at Alexandra Palace.
Day 12 of the £5 million competition at Alexandra Palace saw another double header of round two action, as 2023/24 World Champion Humphries continued his bid to win back the title with a 3-0 demolition of Singapore's hugely popular veteran Lim.
The world number two raced into a two-set lead by taking the opening six legs without reply, averaging north of 108 in a superb run.
Humphries’ pace slowed down in the third set as Lim claimed a solitary leg, but the former World Champion cleaned up the third set, ending the contest with a 50% double success rate.
“I planned to win in straight sets and tonight there was no unnecessary drama,” said Humphries, who will face Gabriel Clemens in round three.
“It was a great first leg from myself with a 12-darter and the first two sets were really clinical. I scored and finished really well.
“If you’re not getting a lot thrown back at you, it can get a lot harder. It felt like I was really comfortable and I relaxed too much.
“I know that when I come back from Christmas, I’ll be more consistent. I won’t have these 80s average sets - when the pressure is on me, that’s when I’m consistent.”
Van Veen announced his title intentions by delivering the best performance of the tournament so far in his 3-1 triumph over Alan Soutar thanks to a monstrous 108.28 average and just three treble-less visits across the contest.
The European Champion initially trailed 1-0 and survived a set dart from Soutar in the second set's decider, but the Dutchman won seven legs on the spin to seal a memorable win and reach round three for the first time in his career.
“There’s so much I can take from this game going forward,” said Van Veen, who will face Madars Razma in round three.
“I got a bit lucky in the second set, but you need a bit of luck in these kind of tournaments.
“The last six legs are some of the best I’ve ever played, especially on this stage.
“This Christmas is going to be the best one of my life so far, still being in the World Championship. It was a massive goal for myself and thankfully I’ve achieved it this year.”
Nathan Aspinall cruised to a whitewash win over Leonard Gates in their round two repeat match-up from last year.
The former World Matchplay champion brushed the American aside 3-1 in legs in each of the three sets to comfortably progress to the last 32, where he will face Kevin Doets.
“It was a straightforward win, I did what I had to do,” stated Aspinall. “In the first game I was a bag of nerves, but I felt really good tonight.
“I feel like I haven’t been as focused as I should be, but I’ve saved a lot of mental energy which I think I’ll need after Christmas.
“My confidence is the highest it’s ever been by an absolute country mile. I’m confident I can have a deep run.”
Ricky Evans came out on top of a marathon affair against James Wade, winning a fifth set tie-break 6-4 in legs to emerge the victor of a 3-2 cracker.
Evans squandered seven match darts and survived one miss from Wade, before breaking throw in the ninth leg and taking out a clutch 99 finish to advance to round three.
Charlie Manby, who Evans will play after the Christmas break, continued his dream debut with another stellar performance to see off Adam Sevada in straight sets.
The 20-year-old won the first six legs on the bounce and conceded just a sole leg, converting 47% of his double attempts to seal an impressive victory over the American.
Doets put an end to David Munyua’s dream debut by condemning the Kenyan trailblazer to a straight-sets defeat.
Despite the 3,000-strong crowd - which featured representatives from the Kenyan High Commission in the UK - roaring on Munyua, the Dutchman maintained composure to deliver a professional performance, dropping just two legs across the match to confirm his round three status.
Humphries’ round three opponent Clemens delivered yet another upset in knocking out Wessel Nijman with a whitewash win.
A former semi-finalist at Alexandra Palace, Clemens capitalised on a profligate display on the outer-ring from Nijman to battle through and reach round three for the fifth time in his career.
Razma reached the last 32 for the third year straight at the World Championship after defeating debutant Darren Beveridge 3-1.
The Latvian arrowsmith produced a stellar performance, averaging north of 97 and hitting 59% of his double attempts as he came back from 2-0 down in legs in the fourth set to seal the match.
The darting action continues on Tuesday, as round two concludes with the final day of action before Christmas.
Three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen faces an in-form William O’Connor, and two-time World Champion Gary Anderson continues his campaign against Connor Scutt.
Sixth seed Danny Noppert and World Cup winning pair Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney all also feature, whilst Peter Wright - another double World Champion - headlines the afternoon session against Arno Merk.
The 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
Click here for match stats & results.
2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
Monday December 22
Afternoon Session
Madars Razma 3-1 Darren Beveridge (3-0, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2)
Gabriel Clemens 3-0 Wessel Nijman (3-1, 3-2, 3-1)
Kevin Doets 3-0 David Munyua (3-1, 3-0, 3-1)
Ricky Evans 3-2 James Wade (3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 0-3, 6-4)
Evening Session
Gian Van Veen 3-1 Alan Soutar (1-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-0)
Nathan Aspinall 3-0 Leonard Gates (3-1, 3-1, 3-1)
Luke Humphries 3-0 Paul Lim (3-0, 3-0, 3-1)
Charlie Manby 3-0 Adam Sevada (3-0, 3-0, 3-1)
Tuesday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Jonny Tata v Ryan Meikle
Daryl Gurney v Callan Rydz
Jermaine Wattimena v Scott Williams
Peter Wright v Arno Merk
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Danny Noppert v Justin Hood
Gary Anderson v Connor Scutt
Michael van Gerwen v William O'Connor
Josh Rock v Joe Comito
Best of Five Sets