"Can walk away with his head held high" - Vincent van der Voort praises a strong Gian van Veen

Gian van Veen’s World Matchplay campaign came to an end on Thursday night as the young Dutchman was edged out 16-13 in a hard-fought quarterfinal against former champion James Wade.

Despite the defeat, the 23-year-old can take great pride in his performance, says analyst and former pro Vincent van der Voort.

Van Veen made a lightning start to the match, racing into a 4-1 lead at the first break. But according to Van der Voort, the early scoreline didn’t quite reflect the flow of the game.

“Although Gian went ahead early, it wasn’t all smooth,” Van der Voort said on the World Matchplay Draait Door podcast. “Wade was actually scoring better at that point but missed a lot of doubles, and Gian took full advantage.”

As the match wore on, Wade found his rhythm. “After that, Wade kept scoring well, but then he also started to hit his doubles—and that’s when he really took control. Gian had a rough spell and lost seven legs on the spin,” Van der Voort explained. “But credit to him—he recovered brilliantly and stayed in the fight.”

Van Veen even had late chances to mount a comeback in the closing stages.

“He just got a little too loose towards the end,” Van der Voort noted. “There were a few key missed doubles, especially that 86 finish to get back to 13-12—that one really hurt.”

Still, the pressure was showing on Wade too, despite his experience. "You could see Wade wasn’t entirely sure of the win, even though he kept playing solid darts,” Van der Voort added. “His scoring dipped slightly, but you’ve got to respect how good he still is.”

Van der Voort was keen to end on a positive note when reflecting on Van Veen’s run.

“In some of those small key moments, Gian just let it slip,” he said. “But he can absolutely walk away from this tournament with his head held high. He was the best-performing Dutchman here, and reaching the quarterfinals at the World Matchplay is a really strong achievement.”