Luke Humphries and James Wade starred in dominant victories to reach the quarter-finals at the World Grand Prix, as Gian van Veen also progressed on Thursday in Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day Four of the double-start tournament saw the final four round two ties take place at the Mattioli Arena, as Humphries produced an excellent outer-ring display to down Jermaine Wattimena 3-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2023 champion hit 74% of his double-in attempts and missed just five darts at double when checking out in a clinical display, breezing to a fourth consecutive quarter-final in the East Midlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former World Champion was made to survive two set darts in the opening set, but controlled proceedings thereafter to set up a last eight tussle with Niels Zonneveld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was a lot better tonight than I was on Tuesday,\u201d professed Humphries, who is yet to concede a set at this year\u2019s World Grand Prix after whitewashing Dave Chisnall in round one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think I got in every time – when you\u2019re doing that it\u2019s going to take a good performance to beat you.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care how I win, but when you put in the performance I did on Tuesday, it\u2019s disappointing and you want to put it right. I think I did that tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor myself, I needed that to think I\u2019ve got a good chance of winning this, and I know I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel like there\u2019s still other levels in me, and hopefully I come back tomorrow with some more of that starting, but even better scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wade strolled into an eighth World Grand Prix quarter-final with a 3-1 triumph over Stephen Bunting, averaging north of 98 in all three of his winning sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-time champion blitzed into a 2-0 set lead, taking his foot off the gas in the third set before an imperious three-leg burst saw him wrap up a comprehensive victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just felt it was down to timing and hitting the right shots at the right time,\u201d assessed Wade, featuring in his 22nd consecutive World Grand Prix campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just really grateful to win. It\u2019s so, so tough to win in double-start. It\u2019s really hard work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m nowhere near my best, but I\u2019m having to play better against better players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got loads more gears to go, but talk is cheap, and I\u2019m full of cheap talk!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wade will face Van Veen in Friday\u2019s quarter-finals, after the Dutchman came back from 2-1 down to pip Ryan Searle in a tense contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch number one struck a 152 finish en route to taking the first set, before defying a two-set rally from Searle and winning four legs straight to close out a 3-2 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt means the world to me,\u201d said Van Veen, who has now reached a sixth Premier event quarter-final of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the last two years I\u2019ve played really well here, but I lost my first game. This year I didn\u2019t play quite as well but maybe that\u2019s the secret to winning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love this tournament, because it\u2019s different. I think doubling is one of the best aspects of my game and I think it showed tonight in the crucial moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is why this tournament gives me so much confidence, and hopefully I can go further!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJames is always a tough opponent but I\u2019m going to be up for it. I played him last time at the World Matchplay and hopefully it\u2019s the same result tomorrow!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zonneveld\u2019s dream debut continued as the Dutchman saw off former runner-up Gary Anderson 3-1 to reach a career-first quarter-final in a TV ranking event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After claiming a nervy opening set where all five legs were won against the throw, the 28-year-old averaged over 102 in the second set to double his lead, before withstanding a late Anderson fightback to seal victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s one of the biggest things I\u2019ve achieved in my whole career,\u201d beamed Zonneveld, who made back-to-back European Tour semi-finals in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have done many things on the ProTour and European Tour stage, but not in the major tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGary Anderson is an awesome player, so I\u2019m really happy with this win.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt really confident. I\u2019m coming back into form and I\u2019ve played really well over the last couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round Two Results Quarter-Finals Match-up<\/strong> Luke Humphries and James Wade starred in dominant victories to reach the quarter-finals at the World Grand Prix,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-16193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
<\/strong>Niels Zonneveld 3-1 Gary Anderson (3-2, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0)
James Wade 3-1 Stephen Bunting (3-1, 3-2, 0-3, 3-0)
Luke Humphries 3-0 Jermaine Wattimena (3-2, 3-1, 3-2)
Gian van Veen 3-2 Ryan Searle (3-1, 2-3, 1-3, 3-2, 3-0)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Joyce
Gerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton
Gian van Veen v James Wade
Luke Humphries v Niels Zonneveld
Best of Five Sets<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"