Van Veen ultimately booked his place in the World Championship final, but the experienced Scot gave him nothing for free. Anderson produced patches of exceptional darts and repeatedly pushed the Dutchman to the limit. That was most evident in the fifth set, a phase of the match already being described as historic.
Sky Sports openly asked whether this might be the highest level ever displayed within a single World Championship set. National newspapers such as The Guardian and tabloids like The Sun rolled out the superlatives and ranked the set among the absolute highlights in World Darts Championship history.
The praise was not based solely on emotion or spectacle, but was backed up by the numbers. Anderson produced, among other things, a 10-darter in that set and averaged an impressive 117.44 for the set. Even that was not enough to take it. Van Veen topped it with a 111.46 average and kept his nerve best at the decisive moments.
“Gary will be thinking how has this happened?” Mardle said during the set’s conclusion. “Honestly, the best set I’ve ever seen.”
That Anderson lost the set despite such numbers underlines how high Van Veen’s level has become. The Dutchman stayed cool, closed out his legs clinically, and showed he can hold firm in absolute top matches.
