“He was beaten 9–1, what are you supposed to tell them?” — Understanding Gian van Veen’s decision not to give an interview at the World Grand Prix

Gian van Veen has established himself as the best Dutch darts player at present, but that also means increasingly high expectations are being placed on his shoulders.

According to Vincent van der Voort, it also matters that Michael van Gerwen is no longer the obvious Dutch figurehead who challenges for titles at almost every major tournament.

Van Veen is now third in the world rankings and has reached two semi-finals and a quarter-final at the major tournaments this year. At the World Grand Prix, his campaign ended in the quarter-finals. James Wade proved too strong, winning 3-0 in sets and dropping only one leg throughout the match.

“Gian is simply our number one,” Van der Voort said on the Sportnieuws.nl Darts Draait Door podcast. “Not only in the world rankings, but also at the major tournaments. This year, he has reached two semi-finals and a quarter-final. The others are nowhere near that. The Dutch players often go deep in tournaments, but finals are not happening at the moment. No Dutchman has played in a major final this year. That is not a good situation.”

For years, Van Gerwen was the first Dutch player everyone looked to at the majors. That allowed his compatriots to operate more under the radar. Now that the three-time world champion’s results at major tournaments have declined, Van der Voort notices that the focus is increasingly shifting towards Van Veen.

“Everyone could perform well because Van Gerwen always went deep anyway. Now you are watching Gian, and he loses 9-1 in legs (3-0 in sets, ed.). He is already hearing that what he is doing is not enough. He would not have faced that during the Van Gerwen era. Back then, a quarter-final would have been a good result for the lad.”

Van Veen’s position in the world rankings automatically creates higher expectations. The 24-year-old Dutchman is ranked third in the world, but he has not yet been able to turn that status into a run of major titles.

After his heavy defeat by Wade, Van Veen did not attend the customary interviews. Van der Voort can understand that decision.

“He got battered 9-1, so he needed some time to process it. Nothing worked. What are you supposed to say afterwards? It is better not to do interviews in that situation. Gian is the last person you should criticise; normally, he always delivers.”