"I’ll have to skip some of the smaller tournaments" - Gian van Veen plans necessary sacrifices as Premier League and World Series bloat his 2026 calendar

The first episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast by Damien Vlottes and Vincent van der Voort in 2026 immediately featured a special guest: none other than World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen joined them in the studio. Thanks to his strong run at Alexandra Palace, the Dutchman has climbed to third place in the world rankings. That brings plenty of perks, but it also means he gets far less downtime than he’s used to.

First he had to face the media after his 7-1 loss in the final to the 18-year-old, and on Sunday evening he already had to be in Germany for the Promi-WK Darts. There he teamed up with Cathy Hummels, the ex-wife of footballer Mats Hummels.

“I played that exhibition purely on willpower, it was a tough day,” Van Veen said in the latest episode. On the Sunday after the final he was due to board a flight at 1:15 PM and land in Germany at 3:30 PM. However, he had a delay of over three hours, and then he also had to wait for his luggage. The tournament started at 8:00 PM, so he still had to rush. “I walked into the venue at 7:30 PM, so I was just in time,” the Dutchman laughed.

The evening itself didn’t go quite as Van Veen had expected either. He played pairs with Cathy Hummels, as the duos had to consist of a top darter and a celebrity. “She’s a presenter and she said she has OnlyFans and does pilates,” he recalled. “She also has almost 700,000 followers on social media, so I had to tag along everywhere to record videos. She was very nice, but she couldn’t play darts. We lost in the semi-finals and in two legs her highest score was 35. Quite often all three of her darts missed the board.”

There were highlights too. Both legs they won were finished by Hummels. The celebrities didn’t have to check out on a double, so she only had to hit the big segments. Once she found the big 12, and the other time she even hit tops. “I walked to the board to point out where it was. Then the referee told me I’d better tell her to hit two big segments. But I had full confidence and she just nailed that tops with her first dart. I was in stitches.”

Van Veen now has a few days off, but a proper holiday isn’t on the cards for the Dutch thrower. Van Veen was actually going to go on holiday, but his run to the final has put a line through that. Later this month he already has to report for the first two World Series events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Still, he will sneak away for a few days. “It’s been five very busy days in this new year. I really can’t complain, not at all, but all the hustle that comes with it… I’m looking forward to catching a few days of sun.”

Van Veen stresses that many people think darts is just ‘throwing a few arrows’. With all the travel, there’s a lot more to it. Van Veen certainly isn’t complaining, but he does feel he needs a short break. Vincent van der Voort fully agreed. “I think it’s also very important to completely rest and recharge a bit. Because there’s a very long season ahead with much more media attention than before.”

Whereas in the ‘old days’ players had the entire month of January off after the Worlds, the arrival of the World Series has ensured the elite are back in action immediately. Now that Van Veen has climbed to third in the world rankings, he’s part of that elite and will have to play again next week in Bahrain. He has had to adjust his plans accordingly. “It’s not going to be a holiday, that was just a bit too… The sun’s shining nicely in Dubai too, so I’ll head there for a few days.”

It will be Van Veen’s first time competing at these tournaments. He can learn a lot there and pick up more prize money, but it will likely mean skipping other events at times. “In recent years I always thought: ‘end of June you’ve got World Series and in August and January. Then you’ve got a nice break’. Well, that won’t happen this year. So I’ll have to skip some of the smaller tournaments to get my rest. That really is necessary,” said Van Veen.

His new position in the world rankings also means that besides trips to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, he’ll be able to travel to the World Series events in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. He wants to make the most of that opportunity. “Same as with the Worlds final: you don’t know how often you’ll be invited for things like this. So the first time, I’m doing them all.”