Gian van Veen has had a different level of confidence since winning the European Championship a few months ago, with that trophy being his first major success. He took on Luke Humphries in the final of that competition, and fought back after losing the first three legs of the contest to come away an 11-10 winner.

These two have met four times this year with van Veen winning all four meetings. All of those meetings have been pretty close as well, with van Veen winning the most recent meeting 6-5 in the Players Championship Finals. Gian van Veen has also been sensational at the World Championship so far, winning all four of his games without much jeopardy and an overall average of 100.89.

With van Veen’s recent strong record against Humphries, taking him at a set and a half advantage on the handicap here seems a sensible play. I also wouldn’t put you off backing van Veen to win the game, but Humphries does look like a man on a mission and has a lot more experience on the Alexandra Palace stage when compared to van Veen, so if the contest does go deep - I can see ‘Cool Hand’ edging the clash. 

Outside of Humphries and Littler, van Veen is the only player still standing at the World Championship that has won a major tournament within the last year and you would expect whoever comes through this tie to meet Luke Littler in the final.

Gian van Veen hit nine 180s across 21 legs against Charlie Manby in the round of 16, working out to a rate of 0.42 180s per leg. He’s been a strong scorer throughout the tournament with his first nine average never dipping below 100 in any of the four games he’s contested so far.

He’s thrown six or more 180s in three of his four games so far, with those games being shorter format clashes. With the format now extending to first to five sets, van Veen should have opportunities to rack up the 180 count with Humphries also being a strong 180-hitter. It’s also worth noting that van Veen has wrapped up his games with minimal fuss so far, not allowing his opponent to take more than a set off him.

This should change here with recent clashes between Humphries and van Veen indicating that this will be a very closely fought affair. This should benefit van Veen’s 180 count with this clash likely to be the most back and forth game he’s contested at the World Championship - as opposed to his other games where he was the clear favourite.