Gian van Veen demolished Luke Humphries 5-1 in the quarter-final, despite being priced as a slight underdog for the clash. The ‘Giant’ has always had real quality, but struggled at times with the pressure of the big stage - that has gone away since his triumph at the European Championships, which was his first major trophy.

van Veen averaged 105.41 against Humphries, cleaning up 55.17% of his doubles. Only Luke Littler can really match these numbers, and I think this version of van Veen can run him very close, should both players make it to the final.

Gary Anderson has had a fantastic run to the semi-final at the age of 55, in a pool of younger talent - the Flying Scotsman is showing that he is still a real threat, but I think the extended format will work against him here. In his 5-2 win against Justin Hood in the quarter-final, there were two sets where he averaged around 90. Hood wasn’t able to properly punish Anderson in these spells, but van Veen certainly will.

These two met twice in 2025 with one win apiece. van Veen won the most recent clash, which was a first to seven race in a Players Championships semi-final. I think van Veen has the gears to move a few sets away from Anderson in this contest, especially in the latter stages, where fatigue and stamina come into play.

Gian van Veen has hit two 170 checkouts at the tournament so far, his first coming against Alan Soutar in the early stages of the competition, and his most recent flashy finish coming against Humphries. He left the big fish three times in that game, missing the bull for the checkout on two occasions. 

I’d expect us to get at least eight sets in this game, and I think most sets are likely to go down to the deciding leg. van Veen was excellent in these scenarios against Humphries - winning every single set that went to a deciding leg. 

High finishes could be the difference between these two players. Anderson is being outscored by van Veen over the course of the tournament, so he may be forced to take out some difficult shots to match the relentless pace of van Veen. The board management and counting of these two is also superb, increasing the chances of a high checkout. 

van Veen ran out a 5-1 winner over Humphries in set play, but only a 16-11 winner when looking at legs won. This is a good example of the quirks of set play, and shows how devastating van Veen can be in pressure moments. 

Gary Anderson is also capable of the spectacular and took out a 161 finish against Justin Hood in the last round. That was his highest finish of the tournament so far, providing further encouragement for a high checkout here.