Updated 22:53 2 Jan 2026 GMTPublished 22:30 2 Jan 2026 GMT

Gary Anderson and Gian Van Veen Play Out 'Greatest Set in WDC History'

The fifth set between Gary Anderson and Gian van Veen will go down in World Darts Championship history.

Nasir Jabbar

Gary Anderson and Gian van Veen played out one of the greatest sets in World Darts Championship history during their incredible semi-final clash.

Anderson and Van Veen took to the oche after Luke Littler beat Ryan Searle to book his spot in Saturday's final.

Littler dominated Searle, winning their showdown 6-1 as fans were all in agreement over the 18-year-old's scintillating performance.

The other semi-final between Anderson and Van Veen was a slugfest as they were involved in an Ally Pally thriller.

Heading into the fifth set, Van Veen led Anderson 3-1.

But the new Dutch No.1 pulled away after winning the fifth set, which is being described as one of the greatest sets in World Darts Championship history.

'The Flying Scotsman' won the opening leg of the fifth set, producing a stunning 10-darter. He then won the subsequent leg with an outrageous Big Fish checkout.

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Van Veen, however, returned fire as he won three legs on the spin to win the fifth set.

He hit an 11-darter to win the third leg before delivering his own Big Fish checkout to draw level.

Anderson had darts to win the fifth leg and wrap up the set but failed to check out 136, with the 23-year-old securing the leg, winning the set in the process.

Commentator Wayne Mardle couldn't believe what he was witnessing, hailing both players.

"That was unbelievable. A set of darts from Gods," he said on Sky Sports.

"The 4-1 scoreline is unfair of Gary. Van Veen with one of the best sets wins I've ever seen. Anderson averaged 117 in that set and it was not good enough."

Gary Anderson celebrates winning a leg against Gian van Veen. Image: Getty

Fifth set -

Leg 1: Anderson - 10-darter

Leg 2: Anderson - 12-darter (Big Fish)

Leg 3: Van Veen - 11-darter

Leg 4: Van Veen - 12-darter (Big Fish)

Leg 5: Van Veen - 15-darter

On Van Veen, Mardle added: "There's nothing Van Veen can do on a dart board. We wax lyrical about Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Van Veen is right up there."

Van Veen went onto beat Anderson 6-3 to reach the World Darts Championship final, setting up a mouth-watering showdown against Littler.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@NasJabbar