“To have the highest average ever recorded there, as some local guy from the Netherlands, is pretty special” – Richard Veenstra looks back on the “forgotten match” against an unknown Luke Littler

Richard Veenstra has established himself as a regular presence on the PDC circuit in recent years. The 45-year-old Dutchman may not be among the absolute elite, but he regularly shows he can compete with the best players in the world. His darts career, however, began in an unusual way. For years, Veenstra was primarily a footballer and did not take up darts seriously until he was 24 or 25. In an in-depth interview with Tungsten Tales, he looks back on his remarkable career, his historic match against Luke Littler at Lakeside and his ambitions for the years ahead.

Veenstra is pleased with his performances in 2026. The Dutchman has secured places at the World Darts Championship and the Players Championship Finals. He also feels his floor-game level continues to improve.

“It's been a good year for me on the floor, I think. After 25 Pro Tours, I'm going to the World Championship and the Players Championship Finals, so that's good for me,” Veenstra says.

Still, he is far from satisfied. In the coming years, the Dutchman hopes to climb further up the world rankings and eventually secure a place in or close to the top 32.

Darts, perhaps surprisingly, was not the most important sport in Veenstra’s life for a long time. He started playing football at the age of five or six and continued well into adulthood. “I played football from when I was five or six years old, and when I was around 24 or 25, they started a darts club nearby, so I ended up there,” he recalls.

His football career then took an unfortunate turn. “I was still playing football, but after a year or two, I had some knee injuries – twice in one year – so they definitely told me to get into darts."

It proved to be an excellent decision. Veenstra quickly discovered that he had a great deal of natural talent. He made an immediate impression in one of his first league matches. “I remember the first time I played darts, I hit four 180s in one competition. We started in the fourth division or something, so they were saying, “Four 180s? That's not correct!” But that's where it all started.”

His progress was rapid. Before long, he was competing in NDB ranking events, and soon after that he was selected for the Dutch team. “That's the first thing I did. I played in the NDB rankings, and after about half a year, I was in the Dutch team.”

At the same time, he had to balance his new hobby with family life. His first son, Joeri, had been born around then. “My first son, Joeri, was born around then, and that's when I started playing darts. I wasn't playing every week. I thought, 'We've just had a kid, so maybe I'll play one week on and one week off.' I was playing really well, but my focus was still on football."

Veenstra believes his natural sporting ability may have helped him develop so quickly. “I'm pretty competitive in every sport. If I go bowling or play badminton or tennis, I'm good at most sports. Maybe that's why my darts went so well in the beginning.”

Although Veenstra reached the Dutch team quickly, he initially had no grand plans for his darts career. “No, there was no plan. I got some sponsors in the beginning to help me play in the NDB rankings in Holland. I had some local sponsors, and I reached the Dutch team within a year. I thought that was probably the highest I could get in Holland as a local player."

His ambitions soon grew, however. After his first successes, he decided to try to qualify for Lakeside. “Then I thought maybe I needed to qualify for Lakeside the following year. I got some more sponsors who were close to me, and they said, 'Give it a go and we'll see.' I carried on working, and they said that if I could do it, we'd see what happened."

That was in 2016, when Veenstra beat defending champion Scott Mitchell in the quarter-finals. It marked his breakthrough on the international darts stage. “Once you play at that level, you want to compete everywhere. The British Open, the England Open, the Dutch Open. You want to play in every event, really.”

Veenstra also looks back fondly on his years in the BDO. “I really enjoyed it. It was like a family coming together. Everybody stayed in the same hotel, and you would all spend time together around the darts. It was totally different.”

Despite his success as a darts player, Veenstra has never given up his career outside the sport completely. He still works at a shipyard, where he is responsible for purchasing the materials needed to build ships.

“I work in a shipyard. I'm the buyer for all the products they need to build a boat. That's still what I do. I'm still at the same company. There have been some changes over the last 25 years, but that's where I started when I finished school, and I still work there.”

Even his impressive performances at Lakeside and his move to the PDC have not changed that. “Both. I really like it. I'm now working 28 hours a week on paper, so that's fine for me. My boss has given me every chance to go to every tournament, which is really nice.”

One of the standout moments of Veenstra’s darts career came in 2022. At the WDF World Championship at Lakeside, he faced a then relatively unknown Luke Littler, who was just 15 years old at the time.

Veenstra produced a phenomenal performance, winning 3-0 in sets and recording an average of 104.91. In doing so, he broke Raymond van Barneveld’s historic Lakeside record, set in 2004 with an average of 103.83.

“Lakeside is a really special place. So many great players have been there, and to have the highest average ever recorded there, as some local guy from the Netherlands, is pretty special.”

Veenstra reached the semi-finals again that year. In his quarter-final against Brian Raman, he also came agonisingly close to a nine-darter, missing double 12 for a perfect leg. Still, he does not think his best years are behind him. “I still improve a little bit every year. I think this is my best year on the floor right now on the PDC circuit.”

After his time with the BDO and WDF, Veenstra decided to make the move to the PDC. The reason was simple: he wanted to find out whether he could compete with the best players in the world. “All the good players are there, so you want to know how competitive you are against them. That's why I decided to give Q-School a go.”

He eventually secured a Tour Card, allowing him to make his debut on the professional circuit. At his first PDC World Championship, in December 2023, Veenstra beat Ben Robb and Kim Huybrechts. Michael van Gerwen awaited him in the third round and proved too strong, winning 4-0.

"My first year at the World Championship was massive. Winning there was huge for me. I won my second game in that first year against Kim Huybrechts, after beating Ben Robb in my opening match, and then I had to play Michael van Gerwen in the third round. I thought, 'Let's give it a go and have a good year.'"

At first, facing a world-class player brought extra pressure, but Veenstra now sees it differently. “there was pressure, but now you play so many tournaments against everybody. You play Michael, Luke Humphries or anyone else, so these days it doesn't matter who you're playing. You have to concentrate on your own game. You have to play well, and if you do, maybe you're lucky enough to win."

The Dutchman stresses that the standard in the PDC is now exceptionally high. Even outstanding averages offer no guarantee of victory. “This year, I played a 110 average, my highest ever, and lost 6-2 against Chris Dobey, who also played a 10 average..”

He had a similar experience against Richie Edhouse. “The week before, I hit a 107 average and lost against Richie Edhouse. You can play some decent games, but that doesn't mean you're going to win."

Veenstra says this reflects the sport’s development. “That's the way it is these days in the PDC. Everybody can throw a 100 average if they're playing well. That's what you have to deal with."

He believes the competition is only getting tougher as more young talents break through. “If you look at all the Challenge Tour players coming through now, they're playing some massive games. There's no such thing as a lucky or easy draw anymore."

That does not faze Veenstra in the slightest. He says his competitive drive is just as strong as when he first started playing sport at a young age. "Whether they're 16 or 58, it doesn't matter. I still want to beat everybody.”

Veenstra has a clear goal for the coming years. He wants to improve his ranking and qualify directly for the major tournaments more often. “I'll try to get into the top 32, or close to it, to make things easier for myself. It's different because you have to qualify for every European Tour event. That's the main thing for me now: to get higher up the Pro Tour rankings and maybe qualify for the European Tour every time."

The Dutchman has no thoughts of retiring for now. In fact, despite being 45, Veenstra feels he is still making progress. “I think I'm still making progress. My average is going up every year, so I'm playing a decent game.”