Luke Humphries was blown away by Gian van Veen in the World Darts Championship quarter-final. The No. 2 seed lost to Van Veen in this year's European Championship final and had the perfect opportunity for revenge at Alexandra Palace.

Despite the loss in Germany, Humphries was the narrow favourite against the young Dutchman. A phenomenal first set saw both players average just over 103, but Van Veen nicked it on a deciding leg, hitting two ton plus checkouts along the way. 'Coolhand' found his best form to take set two 3-1, but the momentum was taken from him after. He missed two darts to break Van Veen with the score 1-1 in set three, which Van Veen went on to win 3-2.

If Van Veen ground out set three, he swiped Humphries aside in set four. He averaged 117 and hit a stunning 170 in the opening leg, to win the set 3-1 and go 3-1 up in sets as well.

Humphries' shoulders began to shrug and after missing four shots at a double in set five, Van Veen took it 3-2 with an average of 108.94. Last year, Humphries lost to Peter Wright in the round of 16 and while he was one step further his year, his loss to Van Veen had some similarities.

Too many missed darts at a double and too many quiet periods meant the door to the semi-final was always open for Van Veen. The Dutchman averaged 112 and hit three of his six attempts at a double to win the sixth and final set 3-1, sealing a 5-1 triumph.

After the match, Van Veen said: "See this smile? It won't go off after the next 24 hours. I am so over the moon.
"I felt really really good today, I saw on the screen a 105 average, that sums up how I felt. It is undescribable."

"He (Humphries) is a fantastic player and whenever I play Luke or anyone else plays Luke we all know we need to perform at our best to beat him and to even get a chance to beat him.

"That's what I did today and that's what I prepared for. Luckily it came out today. I am really looking forward to a semi-final against, as many people know, my idol in Gary Anderson."

Anderson comfortably overcame Ally Pally hero Justin Hood to book his meeting with Van Veen. The Flying Scotsman saw off Hood 5-2 in sets, while Ryan Searle overcame Jonny Clayton reach the semi-final for the first time.

Heavy metal will face Littler in his semi-final clash. The defending world champion white-washed Krzysztof Ratajski 5-0, in a dominant performance at the Palace.