Gian van Veen suffered a sensitive defeat on his debut at the Grand Slam of Darts. The Dutch rising star gave away a 4-0 lead against Ryan Searle.
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With world number one Gerwyn Price also in Group D, the match against Searle was one that almost certainly had to be won to keep a good chance of qualifying for the last sixteen. Van Veen seemed to fulfill that assignment, especially since Searle got off to a lousy start. Hen quickly took a 4-0 lead and a perfect start to the tournament seemed in the making.
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In the fifth leg, Van Veen had chances to decide the match, but he missed three match darts. Searle threw out 59 for his first leg and then came back to 4-3 with a 112 finish and a 15-darter. Then the eighth leg went to Searle with a 14-darter, forcing a deciding leg.
Van Veen then started the last leg and thanks to a 171 score he was on a double after twelve artsd. However, Van Veen missed three match darts on double 18, after which Searle had a chance to win. That gift was eagerly grabbed by 'Heavy Metal', who used double 10 to steal victory from Van Veen.
Group B was headlined by Josh Rock and Chris Dobey. A 106 finish and a 13-darter gave Rock a 3-0 lead. 'Rocky' then missed seven chances to make it 4-0 before Dobey made it 3-1 with a 19-darter.
Dobey then closed to 2-3 after a 14-darter and was allowed to start the sixth leg. 'Hollywood' couldn't get out in six innings, however, and saw Rock score for the 4-2 with a 110 finish. The Northern Irishman then started the seventh leg with two 180s, but the seventh perfect arrow remained out of reach. Rock did, however, secure the victory with a 13-darter.
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WHAT A COMEBACK! 🤯
That is ASTONISHING!
Ryan Searle recovers from 4-0 down to stun a shell-shocked Gian van Veen, surviving SIX match darts to complete the turnaround!
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