"Playing alongside Van Gerwen is not that easy. Michael is someone used to being a favourite everywhere" - Gian Van Veen targeting future World Cup of Darts appearance

From June 27 to 30, the World Cup of Darts is on the program in Frankfurt. The Dutch duo this year is formed by Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert.

At the World Cup of Darts, forty countries of two players each compete against each other. The best two players from each country in the world rankings are automatically selected for this tournament. Yet when it comes to Tour Card holders, in countries with one or no Tour Card holders, a qualifying tournament is sometimes organized to determine the participants. With a 34th place in the Order of Merit, Gian van Veen is currently only the fifth Dutchman in the world rankings, he has to pass Dirk van Duijvenbode and Raymond van Barneveld for the time being in addition to Van Gerwen and Noppert. "I would obviously like to participate in the World Cup of Darts one day," he tells the Double Top podcast. "It would be my first pairs tournament on TV, which would be a new experience anyway."

Yet he also sees a potential pitfall. "Playing alongside Van Gerwen is not that easy. Michael is someone used to being a favourite everywhere and often winning titles, you do have a certain responsibility and also pressure when you play on his side," the Dutch prospect admits honestly.

Van Veen has been in excellent form lately and is climbing rapidly in the world rankings. "But 2025 still comes too soon for a place at the World Cup of Darts," he thinks. "Van Barneveld is not that much ahead of me, but the gap to guys like Van Duijvenbode and Noppert is still big. Although you never know if you have a good run at a big tournament once."

"But I'm not actually focusing on the 2026 edition until the earliest," van Veen concludes. "Although it is certainly not a specific goal, I would rather see it as a nice bonus."