(INTERVIEW) Marvin van Velzen wants to strike straight away on PDC Tour debut: "I'm not going into a tournament to gain experience"

For Marvin van Velzen, darts has never been just a hobby. It was always a dream, an ambition that slowly but surely took shape. And now, with securing his PDC Tour Card, he has reached an important milestone. But for Van Velzen, this doesn't feel like an end station. Rather, it is the beginning of something big, ideally leading to a spot in the top-32 of the world rankings.

The qualifying tournament for the PDC Tour Card, Q-School, is a grueling battle that only the strongest get through. For Van Velzen, the four-day event began shakily. There was nothing wrong with his play, with averages around ninety, but the results did not always fall his way.

On the final day, he knew there was only one option: win. No calculations, no checking intermediate rankings, just approach each match as a final. "I just looked at the standings the night before and knew I practically had to win the tournament," he says in a wide-ranging interview with Dartsnews.com. And with that all-or-nothing mentality came success. In the end, a semifinal still proved enough to secure the coveted Tour Card. During this final day, he defeated Danny Jansen, Stefan Bellmont, Darius Labanauskas and Anton Ostlund, among others.

"It's the dream, the goal you want to achieve at least once in your life," he says. But there was hardly time to enjoy it, as the next challenge soon presented itself: the real thing on the Pro Tour.

His first month on the Pro Tour was a learning experience. "It's tough, but I notice the level is definitely there," Van Velzen says. Still, he feels he is just a step behind players who have been on the circuit for years. "You notice that a lot of guys are just used to this rhythm, to the killer schedule. But I'm learning fast, and I know I can make big strides."

The biggest difference from the levels he was used to is in the ruthlessness of the experienced professionals. "If you miss, it is almost always punished," he explains. "I often experienced missing an opportunity and then my opponent struck mercilessly. You have to learn to deal with that. You can't dwell on a missed opportunity."

His first win on the Pro Tour was therefore an important mental boost. "That's something a lot of players balk at, getting that first win. For me, it was a huge relief that I was able to hit that bump right away."

Many newcomers see their first year on the Pro Tour as a learning year, a period to get used to and gain experience. But Van Velzen thinks differently. "I'm not going into a tournament to gain experience. I want to win. I know what I can do, and if I'm standing there with the attitude 'we'll see,' I might as well not play."

His goals for this season are clear. "I want to qualify for the World Darts Championship. And if possible, make it to the Players Championship Finals. But to do that, I need to make deep runs in tournaments and really make strides."

He also takes that fighter's mentality to the big stages. "I love playing on a stage, with an audience there. That gives me energy. During the MODUS Super Series I played in a silent hall, but on Saturday night it was full. I enjoyed that. The bigger the audience, the more in tune I am."

Almost all darters these days have a nickname. Attached to Van Velzen is the nickname "The Terminator," a name that has been with him since his childhood. "When I started playing darts as a 12-year-old, I often played with a group of friends from soccer," he says. "After practice, we would throw darts and come up with nicknames for each other, inspired by what we saw on TV." One of those nicknames was "The Terminator," and it has always stuck. "It reminds me of how I started, it has something nostalgic," Van Velzen explained.

Now that he is among the pros, a new dream is beginning to form. Where he wants to be in two years? "Preferably in the top 32. Then you automatically play all the major tournaments and you are guaranteed participation in the World Cup. I think I'm good enough to hold on to my Tour Card for a longer period and then in the long run do very nice things. But first; step by step.''

For now, the focus is on the current season, in which he hopes to improve himself. "It's about consistency. I can throw great, but I have to make sure that level is always there. Just trying to win as many games as possible.''

The chance to win a match for the first time at a PDC major will follow later this week, when Van Velzen makes his debut at the UK Open in Minehead. There, he is one of 30 Dutch participants.

Van Velzen will take on Tom Bissell in the first round, who, like the Dutchman, has owned a PDC Tour Card since this year. ''I haven't really seen him throw yet myself, so it's also an unknown for me,'' he said of his English opponent. ''But on the other hand; I'm also just starting out and I'm definitely not going to underestimate him either. In the end it's a Tour Card holder though, so I might have been better off. I just have to look at it pot by pot. You have to keep it that simple for yourself too I think.''

The goal for "The Terminator" is to make it to the fourth round. That's when the top-32 players in the world rankings enter. ''I would love to be able to play that Friday night anyway. I haven't really thought about a goal for the rest, but I hate losing anyway,'' he laughed in conclusion.