
Defending champion Luke Humphries stunned on first night of World Matchplay
The game was tight throughout, but the world number one could not find his brilliant best consistently, finishing with an average of 95.69.
The Dutchman was ahead on that front, 98.45, and crucially was more clinical on the outer ring, where Cool Hand struggled.
Humphries will be very disappointed with checking out at just 29 per cent, while Van Veen was hitting four of every 10 shots at double.
The 23-year-old is one of the most impressive rising stars of the oche, but is yet to have the regular deep runs in major tournaments to really put his stamp on the sport.
That could change now, though, considering this victory as the biggest of his career so far.
'Of course I've done plenty in my career so far but at the moment this feels like the biggest win of my career,' he told Sky Sports.
'Finally I hit that winning double and I think this is the biggest win of my career.'
Ever the classy operator, Humphries had nice words for the winner on stage after the game.
Van Veen added: 'I'm so happy with this win, to beat such a phenomenal player like Luke.
'He even said to me after the game I hope you have a good run this tournament because you really deserve it. He's such a great champion, he's such a great guy. I'm over the moon.'
Van Veen's first victory on the Winter Gardens stage sets up a clash with Danny Noppert in the last 16 after he thrashed Cameron Menzies 10-2 earlier on Saturday night. More Trending
The Scot struggled on debut, at one point busting his score of 178 by chucking a 180, which was a moment he struggled to recover from.
An average of 81.35 was a bit of a disaster, while Noppert was solid enough to pick up a comfortable win.
The first match of the tournament saw James Wade turn in a stunning performance to hammer Joe Cullen 10-3.
In his 20th consecutive year at the World Matchplay, the Machine averaged a brilliant 104.44 to show that he is once again a threat to lift the trophy, which he did in Blackpool in 2007.
MORE: World Matchplay Darts 2025 schedule, time, TV channel and odds
MORE: Gerwyn Price in confident Matchplay mood: 'I should be favourite'
MORE: World Matchplay Darts draw sees legends collide in Blackpool
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scottish Sun
11 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
‘I've never had to do so many' – David Moyes fears Everton crisis has left him in uncharted managerial territory
Moyes also faces an availability issue over winter thanks to international competition feeling blue 'I've never had to do so many' – David Moyes fears Everton crisis has left him in uncharted managerial territory Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DAVID Moyes claims Everton's numbers crisis has left him in uncharted managerial territory. Veteran Moyes is beginning his 28th campaign in the dugout, leading the Toffees into their new home at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 David Moyes' Everton are facing a recruitment crisis Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 5 Moyes' Everton were crushed 3-0 by Bournemouth on Saturday in the Premier League Summer Series in the US Credit: Getty But the Scot says he needs 'five or six' players in the next few weeks - and that requirement was made clear as Everton were crushed 3-0 by Bournemouth at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday night. Moyes, who confirmed he is looking to land Bayern Munich's Moroccan teenager Adam Aznou in a potential £8m move, said: 'We've signed three, so if you take that off, we're still in the need of maybe five or six players. 'That's what we have to try and do. 'In the past I probably have had to sign a lot of players, but I've never had to do so many in one window as we need now.' READ MORE ON FOOTBALL RASH ATTACK Barcelona release statement as thousands unable to watch Rashford debut Moyes suggested that he and the club's new Friedkin Group owners are paying for the chaos of the final years under Farhad Moshiri. He said: 'We're sort of picking up a little bit of what we're at the end of now. 'We had a lot of people out of contracts, a lot of loan players, because of the financial situation. 'So we're having to sort of find a way around that and we're trying really, really hard behind the scenes to get things done. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS 'But you can see we're going to need it. 'We've got no centre-halves and we're really struggling.' Everton and West Ham to fight it out for Douglas Luiz Quizzed on Aznou, who has made just two Bundesliga appearances but did well on loan at Valladolid in Spain in the second half of last term, he added: 'We have made an offer. Whether it's accepted and all done is another thing. 'But he's a young player, someone who we see having a good future and potential, rather than ready. 5 Bayern Munich's Adam Aznou (middle) is a high priority signing for Moyes Credit: AP 5 Moyes is facing a defensive crisis with a swathe of key personnel being ruled out through injury Credit: Getty 'If I'm being honest, we've tried to actually target more senior players if we can, players who are over the age of 25 with Premier League experience. 'That's not taking us away from the fact that we want to try and buy some young players as well. 'I'm hoping by the time we get to the end of the transfer window, we might have a balance of youth and experience.' Moyes is without Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Michael Keane, leaving him perilously light in defence. And he is already concerned about the impact of the African Cup of Nations that starts before Christmas and will strip him of Senegal duo Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye. 5 Everton's top scorer last season, Iliman Ndiaye, will be unavailable during AFCON due to his commitments to the Senegal national team Credit: Getty He said: 'I always want my players to be selected for their country. I want them to represent their countries because I think that's the right thing to do. 'But when they get taken away in the mid-season, it becomes a problem. 'So we will miss them. And it's something which I know a lot of clubs are considering. 'If you're going to buy an African player who's in the AFCON, what's going to happen? Will clubs not sign African players because of the AFCON?'


Daily Mirror
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Belgian GP result: Lando Norris gamble fails as Lewis Hamilton stars from back of grid
Oscar Piastri stayed sharpest after a long rain delay to strike early with the decisive move that won him the Belgian Grand Prix. He got the better of team-mate Lando Norris, who had started on pole in his mother's homeland, but ended up playing second-fiddle to his Formula 1 title rival. Everyone at Circuit Spa-Francorchamps was made to wait for things to get going as heavy rain at one of motorsport's most iconic but dangerous venues made race control nervous. Drivers reported poor visibility on the formation lap and so the race was delayed, by around 90 minutes in the end, while the worst of the wet weather passed over. A rolling start worked in favour of pole-sitter Norris, but he was caught napping by Piastri who swept past on the first lap of racing. He got the move done at turn five, the same place he had lost the Sprint race to Max Verstappen a day earlier, and this time was on the right side of the race-winning move. Norris gambled on hard tyres when the track dried while everyone else went for mediums. And while that meant he was the faster McLaren in the latter stages, Piastri had been able to look after his yellow-walled tyres beautifully in clean air and had forged a large enough gap to make his sure his rival's charge would be in vain. Charles Leclerc, who had beaten Verstappen to third place in qualifying, finished the race in that same position ahead of the Dutchman. And it was a better day too for Lewis Hamilton who had endured a wretched qualifying result and started from the pit lane, but drove well to recover to seventh in the other Ferrari. The first attempt to start the race was swiftly aborted as it became clear that visibility was far too poor for it to safely get going. Race control needed only one formation lap to decide that the conditions were too treacherous and ordered for the marshals to show red flags. It took a wait of 90 minutes before the race was allowed to get going, on a rapidly drying track after the worst of the heavy rain had passed over. But still, they decided to begin with a rolling start which benefitted pole-sitter Norris who was worried that his side of the start-finish straight was wetter than the other side of the track. That message was clearly received by race control who decided a rolling start would be safer and fairer than everyone taking to their grid slots. Not that it helped Norris keep the lead, as he lost out to Piastri on the first lap of full racing having lost battery power, meaning he was a sitting duck at the end of the long Kemmel Straight. When he got the electrics flowing again, he was able to keep in touch with his team-mate and title rival. And the McLarens were clearly looking after those intermediate tyres better than anyone else, given they were both more than 10 second clear of third-placed Leclerc within just half-a-dozen laps. As Piastri was in the lead, he had earned the right to pit first when the time came to switch from the ruined intermediate tyres that everyone was sliding around on to the slicks. That meant Norris had to do an extra lap on much slower rubber which dropped him from one second behind his team-mate to nearly nine adrift. But he decided to go onto the hard compound, while every other car on track went to the mediums. Approaching half distance, that looked like a very shrewd move as he began to close the gap to Piastri and was the fastest car on track, while George Russell in the Mercedes became the first driver to voice doubts that the mediums would make it to the end of the race. Soon over the radio, Piastri was sending a similar message, with Norris clearly the stronger position at that point despite running behind the other McLaren. Another driver flying was Hamilton, who had started from the pit lane after a horrible qualifying effort but was making the most of his new engine parts and had flown up to seventh. But the seven-time champion's progress stalled when he came up to the back of Alex Albon in the Williams which was running a low-downforce setup. That made things tricky in the wet but, now that the track had dried out, the British-Thai racer was lightning quick on the straights which made it tough for the Ferrari to stay with him. At the front, Norris had been kept at arm's length but, with 10 laps to go, started to make progress in the first sign that Piastri's medium tyres were going off. But his progress was stunted when he lost almost a full second with a bad lock-up at turn one on lap 35, which would have also caused some damage to that front-right hard. Norris began closing again but another error with two laps to go ended the slim hopes he still had of catching his rival. It means Piastri will head into next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix with a 17-point advantage over his title rival in what continues to be an extraordinarily close fight for F1 glory. Full 2025 Belgian Grand Prix result Oscar Piastri - McLaren Lando Norris - McLaren Charles Leclerc - Ferrari Max Verstappen - Red Bull George Russell - Mercedes Alex Albon - Williams Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber Pierre Gasly - Alpine Oliver Bearman - Haas Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull Lance Stroll - Aston Martin Esteban Ocon - Haas Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin Carlos Sainz - Williams Franco Colapinto - Alpine Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls


North Wales Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Lottie Woad fires final-round 68 to claim victory on her professional debut
The 21-year-old former world number one amateur from Surrey finished with a final round score of 68 after four days of competition at Dundonald Links. It was Woad's first victory since turning professional earlier in July. She entered the final round with a two-stroke lead and made birdies on the second, third, 13th and 14th before hitting a bogey on the 16th. Lottie Woad wins the @Womens_Scottish on her professional debut 🏆#WSO25 — Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) July 27, 2025 Woad made par on the 17th before a pinpoint approach set up a birdie on the 18th to wrap up the title. She becomes the first player to win on their professional Ladies European Tour debut since Singapore's Shannon Tan at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in February 2024. Woad said on Sky Sports: 'It's a pretty good outcome, I guess! Definitely wasn't expecting to win my first event, but I knew I was playing well so I was kind of hoping to contend. 'I played really solid today. It was pretty nice in the end, could lay up on the par five. 'Links golf is really fun, don't get to play it too often. This is my first time playing links golf since the Open last year. I wasn't exactly sure how it would go, but it went fine!' Woad finished three shots ahead of second-placed Kim Hyo-joo, who fired seven birdies and three bogeys in a mixed fourth round. Julia Lopez Ramirez and Kim Sei-young shared third on 14 under, with world number one Nelly Korda a shot back in fifth. English duo Alice Hewson and Charley Hull finished tied for 10th and 21st, respectively. Attention now turns to the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl, which begins on Thursday. Looking ahead to that tournament, Woad added: 'Even if I hadn't won this week, I'd still be trying to win it and just trying to be up there really is all you can ask for going into the final day.'