Luke Littler records whitewash win, Luke Humphries dumped out of PDC World Championship

Luke Littler has surged through to the PDC World Championship semi-finals, but Luke Humphries was thrashed by Gian van Veen.

Defending champion Littler was forced to battle hard against Rob Cross in the previous round, yet it was a different story on Thursday night as he recorded a 5-0 victory over Krzysztof Ratajski.

Despite the Polish player taking the opening leg, Littler hit a 170 checkout to win the opening set in a decider with Ratajski on 117.

That ultimately set the tone for the remainder of the contest, Littler taking sets two and three without dropping a leg and averaging in excess of 118 in the latter.

Ratajski responded in the fourth but missed darts for the set cost him, ensuring that there was an inevitably of Littler wrapping up progress through to the last four.

The 18-year-old averaged 100.04 and posted a 55.56% checkout rate to set up a semi-final showdown with Ryan Searle, who defeated Jonny Clayton 5-2 earlier in the day.

VAN VEEN DISPATCHES HUMPHRIES! ?

What. A. Performance! ?

Gian van Veen averages over 105 to defeat Luke Humphries 5-1 and secure a spot in his maiden World Championship semi-final!

? https://t.co/59TualjgND#WCDarts | QF pic.twitter.com/2L6jZoOA3A

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2026

Van Veen becomes world number three after beating Humphries

Meanwhile, Van Veen was near faultless in dismantling Humphries in a 5-1 triumph over the former world champion.

The Dutchman averaged 105.41 in ending the challenge of the world number two, who only took the second set when Van Veen endured his only drop-off of the match.

Three of the five sets that Van Veen won were in deciders, but the pivotal moment came in set four as Humphries stayed in the set with a 158 checkout only to see his opponent respond with a 10-dart leg in the fifth leg.

Van Veen has moved ahead of Michael van Gerwen and into third place in the PDC Order of Merit with this win, and effectively guaranteed a place in the Premier League.

His focus, however, will be on facing Gary Anderson - who beat Justin Hood by a 5-2 scoreline - for a place in the final.