Humphries beats Wattimena to reach World Grand Prix quarter-finals in Leicester
Luke Humphries defeated Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 in Leicester to reach the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix on 1 October 2026, with James Wade, Gian van Veen and Niels Zonneveld also advancing.
Humphries, who is world number two and the 2023 World Grand Prix champion, had been beaten by Luke Littler in last year's final; he produced three 180s and a highest checkout of 129 in his win over Wattimena and will meet the Netherlands' Niels Zonneveld, who beat Gary Anderson 3-1, in the last eight.
Reflecting on his match to Sky Sports, Humphries said: "It wasn't the best performance, but it was a good performance. I think I got in every time with my first three [darts]. When you are doing stuff like that, it is going to take a top performance to beat you. "I've got a good chance of winning this. At the moment I am a bit up and down, but if I can put that right I am going to be tough to beat."
James Wade, a two-time World Grand Prix winner in 2007 and 2010, beat Stephen Bunting 3-1 to keep his bid for a third title alive; in the double start and finish format he took the first two sets, lost the third, then won the fourth to close out victory.
Gian van Veen, who lost to Luke Littler in the PDC World Championship final in January and "could become world number two unless Humphries wins the title", won the opening set against Ryan Searle, fell 2-1 behind, then recovered to level and take the decider to set up a quarter-final meeting with Wade.
Other last-16 results that shaped the latter stages included Ryan Joyce beating Danny Noppert 3-0, Jonny Clayton defeating Wessel Nijman 3-1, and Nathan Aspinall overcoming Luke Woodhouse 3-0, leaving the remaining ties to be played alongside the Humphries and Wade matches.
The four quarter-final ties are scheduled for Friday, 2 October (19:00 BST), with the order of play to be confirmed: Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Joyce; Gerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton; Luke Humphries v Niels Zonneveld; and Gian van Veen v James Wade.