Sunday, July 26, 2026
Column CM166
World Matchplay 2026 – Semi-finals (and another debutant!)
The semi-final evening was a rather short affair, largely due to Luke Littler – for him, Dirk van Duijvenbode was essentially little more than a glorified sparring partner.
The evening began with the semi-final between Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen. Van Veen appeared somewhat unhappy and tense as he took the stage – a stark contrast to Gerwyn Price, who seemed to be relishing the match and led 4-1 before the first break.
After the break, van Veen found his rhythm a bit better and managed to win a few legs. 
He narrowed the gap to 6-5, but Price remained unfazed and kept him at bay, even though his lead occasionally shrank to a single leg. van Veen was unable to replicate his earlier performances, possibly because he simply put too much pressure on himself. Price, on the other hand, seemed to remain relaxed right up to the end of the match – which he won 17-10 – securing his first-ever spot in a World Matchplay final. Whether he stands a real chance there remains to be seen – he will certainly need to step up his game if he wants to compete with Luke Littler. At the very least, however, he has reclaimed the title of Welsh number one, a milestone that was very important to him.
The second semi-final did not last long. Luke Littler dominated from the start, and Dirk van Duijvenbode could only win the occasional leg – five in total, and in every one of those, he hit his double on the second attempt. 
Littler matched that accuracy on the doubles, an astonishing feat considering he won seventeen legs in all.
Littler made hardly any errors – either in scoring nor in finishing. His opponent didn’t put up much resistance, either. The Dutchman had shown far more fight in his previous matches. Yet, he can hardly be blamed for that – he likely didn’t rate his chances very highly from the start. At least he took it with a sense of humor.
That covers the World Matchplay semi-finals. Now, let’s turn to the final debutant of this year’s Women’s World Matchplay: Vicky Pruim.
Like Deta Hedman, Pruim can look back on a long darts career. It began in 1987 for the Swede, who was born in Belgium in 1974. 
Pruim lived and played in Belgium until 2002, holding the Belgian number one spot for thirteen years. She moved to Sweden in 2002 and began competing for that country. Although she relocated to England in 2019 and currently resides in Chester, she still plays under the Swedish flag.
Pruim has won numerous titles across Scandinavia. She has competed in BDO and WDF World Championships four times, reaching the semi-finals in 2002 – her best result to date. She reached the semi-finals of the World Masters in 2016 and won the singles event at the WDF World Cup in 2017. On the Women’s Series, she claimed her first and, so far only, title in 2026.
While she is only ranked 73 in the WDF Ranking she sits in fourth place of the Women’s Series Order of Merit.
