“It’s on us to stop him and the other Luke, Littler": Gian van Veen has his sights set on second place in the world rankings
PDCThursday, 16 July 2026 at 09:30
Gian van Veen has set his sights on climbing to second place in the PDC Order of Merit. The 24-year-old Dutchman currently sits third in the world rankings and believes the coming months present the perfect opportunity to close the gap on Luke Humphries.
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Van Veen trails the English world No. 2 by £252,000, but the situation on the Order of Merit works in his favour. While Van Veen only has to defend 12.3 per cent of his current prize money over the coming months, Humphries must defend a massive 44.3 per cent of his total earnings.
The Dutchman also enjoyed an outstanding first half of the season. He reached the final of the PDC World Championship and also made the semi-finals of the World Masters.
The calendar offers further encouragement. Two years ago, Van Veen was eliminated in the first round of the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championship and Players Championship Finals. Only at the Grand Slam of Darts did he go deeper, reaching the quarter-finals.
Even so, the reigning European Champion knows the competition at the very top is fierce. “After the World Championship I knew I wasn’t defending a lot this year. The Matchplay first round, the World Grand Prix first round.
“The only tournament I am defending quite a bit of money in is the Grand Slam, which is far away."
"Humphries and Littler are the two best players in the world"
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Van Veen makes no secret of the fact that he would love to overtake Humphries and move into second place in the world rankings. At the same time, he has enormous respect for both Humphries and Luke Littler.
“Of course I am eyeing the No.2 spot. But if I am being honest, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are the best two players in the world right now.
Littler lost to Luke Humphries in the US Darts Masters final.
“Both of them have been performing really well lately. Even Luke Humphries. Maybe a couple of months ago you wouldn’t really say he was the No.2 in the world performance-wise. But now you can say he is really back. He is performing really well. He is defending the title in Blackpool, but I am sure he can do it again.
Humphries is also defending his World Matchplay title in Blackpool this week, although Van Veen expects the Englishman to mount another serious title challenge.
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“It’s on us to stop him and the other Luke, Littler. We will see what we can do.”
World title more important than becoming world No. 1
Although moving up to second in the rankings would represent a huge milestone, Van Veen is ultimately looking even further ahead. Reaching the top of the world rankings, however, appears to be a much greater challenge for now.
The Dutchman currently trails world No. 1 Luke Littler by almost £2 million and believes winning the World Championship will probably be essential if he is to close that gap.
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Despite that, the rankings are not Van Veen's main focus. “It would feel amazing, of course. But I think with the rankings as they are now, you need to win the World Championship to become world No.1. Especially with Luke Littler at the moment. The world ranking is nice and I like being No.3 in the world, and in a couple of months No.2 if it works out well.
“But I don’t really look at that. I just want to do well and perform well at tournaments. I will probably be more proud of the world title than becoming world No.1. We will see in the end.”
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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