"Gian van Veen is a proper talent – he’ll have a good year" - Dave Chisnall picks his breakthrough player of 2024

Luke Littler has lit up the darting world in recent months with his spectacular performances. But 'The Nuke' of course, is not the only great young talent in the darts world.

Asked who will be the "breakthrough player on the Pro Tour" this season, Dave Chisnall had a clear answer. "I think Gian van Veen is a proper talent – he’ll have a good year.”

Van Veen impressed last year, including a run to the semifinals at the European Championship in his debut year as a Tour Card holder. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Dutchman, who was also a losing finalist at the Youth World Championship (against Littler) has risen to 41st place in the world rankings.

The past World Darts Championship did turn into a disappointment for Van Veen, who surprisingly went down in the opening round against Man Lok Leung.

Chisnall himself made it to the quarterfinals at the last World Darts Championship, in which he lost 5-1 to eventual world champion Luke Humphries. "The World’s this year was a bit mixed for me. I was pleased to get to the quarter-finals, and thought I had played well in the earlier rounds (beating Cameron Menzies and Gabriel Clemens), and played much better when beating Daryl (Gurney) to get through to the last eight.”

"I’m not sure what happened between then and New Year’s Day, but I didn’t finish at all well against Luke, and it was a bit of a struggle. I had a bit of a temperature and think a few of the lads might have also caught a bug, but it’s no excuse and I still love the Ally Pally stage. I’ll be there again next Christmas and hopefully give it another good go.”