𝐆𝐕𝐕 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐓 🆚 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓 Ook Gian van Veen doet mee aan het Europees Kampioenschap Darts! Hij ontmoet vrijdagavond de sensationele Damon Heta in zijn eerste partij! 🗓️ 27 oktober rond 19:00 🏟️ Westfalenhallen, Dortmund 📺 Viaplay
Gian van Veen storming to the top of darts: "But I still feel like I'm the same little boy who was dabbling in a tournament two years ago"
PDCThursday, 26 October 2023 at 12:00
Gian van Veen will make his debut at the European Championship this weekend. In the opening round, the 21-year-old Dutchman will take on Damon Heta.
Van Veen only captured his PDC Tour Card early this year and has already climbed to 68th in the world rankings. "Yes, it can go fast. If you had told me at the beginning of this year that I would qualify for all the upcoming majors, I wouldn't have believed you," Van Veen told AD.nl.
As an 11-year-old kid, Van Veen started playing darts. "It actually all started in the soccer canteen of VV Zuilichem, where I won a local tournament. I soon heard, 'Who are you and why are you already throwing so well?' I was barely six feet tall and eleven years old. When I won the Dutch Open at thirteen, the biggest tournament you could win at that age, I thought: this could still be fun."
"When I was 16, I grew a lot and my hand-eye coordination changed," Van Veen continued. "More and more often I went to tournaments at home or abroad and could go home after one round. I had absolutely no self-confidence and also suffered from dartitis. I noticed that I was blocking. You also see it on videos, for example that first Euro Tour match against Vincent Van der Voort. In my third turn I throw treble 20 twice, after which the crowd starts cheering and I can't get the third dart out of my hand. That match wasn't too bad, but I've had tournaments ... it was hell. I had in my head: if you miss, you lose and you're out of the tournament. But the crazy thing was: my level kept improving, I kept winning. That made my self-confidence grow again. Now it doesn't bother me anymore.''
TOTO Dart Kings
Van Veen also recently joined the TOTO Dart Kings team, which includes other top Dutch players such as Michael van Gerwen, Raymond van Barneveld and Danny Noppert, among others. "They said, 'you are the future and the one who should one day knock Van Gerwen off the throne.' When people look at me like that, I like that. Van Barneveld had also said: you just have to take it. That's a nice compliment.''
As a 15-year-old, Van Veen got to play against Van Barneveld during a exhibition tournament. "We always used to watch Van Barneveld on television," says mother Marjan. "Now your son is hanging out with him. Separate, right? Nice that your son is accepted by all those men, like Van Gerwen and Price."
Van Veen also notices that he gets a lot of respect from other players. "Damon Heta told me once, 'This is not normal what you are doing lately. All the top players take you into account and whoever says they don't, they're lying'. Sometimes it's still weird to be among guys you only saw on television until recently, but I just have to beat them.'
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The young Dutchman has been performing so strongly lately that he is even considered an outsider for the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship. "I hear sometimes that I can have a shot at the title, but I don't see that for me. I'm already happy if I win one match. I was asked the other day: when would you like to be at the World Cup of Darts for the Netherlands? Those are not things I think about at all. It goes fast, but I still feel like I'm the same little boy who was dabbling in a tournament two years ago.''
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- Luke Littler played incredible darts yesterday in the semi-final and the final, heralding a new era of darts (along with some of the other brilliant young players who are emerging). And yet, at Luke's celebration feast, de Decker's ghost is Banquo to Littler's Macbeth, mournfully looking on.
UndartedWaters18-11-2024 - Am not outraged and as said above i dont like anyone from any country doing it to anyone from any country. Whoever is going for a double should have best of order.Mysstree17-11-2024
- Say what? It happens in other countries; Littler in January - this year (Holland), go and watch the evidence on YouTube. If it is going to be done to English players, then we are more than entitled to dish the same back when players face off in England. When it happened to Littler in Holland in January... where was your outrage then? ABE attitude.MrYnyslas197117-11-2024
- I dont like individuals or crowds trying to put any player off when they are trying to check out, how anyone can think its okay for the crowd to whistle or shout as someone is throwing for a double is beyond me but it does seem to have become part and parcel of the modern game. I no longer play now, darts is as good as dead at a local level round my way but when i did play many years ago, no matter how intense the rivalry you never shouted out or whistled when an opponent from the other team was throwing for a double.Mysstree17-11-2024
- The pundits glossing over the other factor at play in that match. They appear to be somewhat constrained in what they can say publicly.UndartedWaters16-11-2024