“There simply wasn’t any more in this tournament and I felt that during the match” – Gian van Veen proud despite losing the semi-final at the World Matchplay

Gian van Veen failed to reach the final of the World Matchplay. The 23-year-old Dutchman had to concede 17-10 in the semi-final to Gerwyn Price. Afterwards, Van Veen was realistic about his performance. Although disappointed with the defeat, pride at making the last four in Blackpool prevailed.

Van Veen produced an up-and-down display against the Welshman. While he felt he scored better at the start than in his previous matches, he faltered on the doubles. That immediately cost him a strong position.

“I really felt I started scoring much better than I had in the past few matches. And suddenly you miss doubles. You don’t know where that comes from,” Van Veen told Viaplay afterwards.

“After that, my finishing was much better, but my scoring dropped off again. There was just no more in it this tournament, and I sensed that during the match. I tried to hang in as much as possible, and that went fine. Up to the fourth break, and then he just runs away. Unfortunately, I had little left to answer with.”

Van Veen endured a difficult opening phase and quickly trailed 6-1. Yet he battled back impressively to 6-5, which made the match look wide open again.

He maintained belief during the contest. “Then it’s 11-7 and after that 11-9. You go into the fourth break thinking: 11-9, nothing’s wrong yet. Just one break, because I was holding my own legs. So one break and it’ll be fine.”

That decisive break never came. On the contrary, Price shifted up another gear. “Then it’s 12-9 and 13-9. You blink twice and suddenly it’s over.”

Van Veen also had no explanation for why his doubles deserted him particularly in the opening phase. Strikingly, he had posted an excellent doubles percentage throughout the tournament, but little of that was evident in the first sessions of the semi-final.

“Good question. If only this game were that simple. The swings can be so big. My scoring was a lot better then. It would be great if both clicked at the same time, but unfortunately that didn’t happen now.”

Although Price did not hit his absolute peak according to Van Veen, the Dutchman felt the Welshman was simply the better player at the key moments.

“You just have to acknowledge he was the better man, and that’s how I felt. Especially after the fourth break. Then you just know he’s going to run away with it, and that’s a real shame.”

Ahead of the semi-final there was some doubt about the equipment Van Veen would use. He had brought new darts and wanted to make the final decision after the warm-up.

In the end he opted for his trusted set. “I ended up throwing with the old darts. I’d already said I’d warm up with the new ones for fifteen minutes and then see how it felt. It turned out to be the old ones, but that made little difference today.”

Despite the disappointment, Van Veen looked back on his tournament with a positive feeling. He was critical of his game throughout the week, but also realizes that a semi-final spot at one of the biggest televised tournaments in the world is an excellent achievement.

“I didn’t play great this tournament. Nevertheless, I’m incredibly proud to have reached the semi-finals. I’m very happy with that. I’ll head home tomorrow genuinely satisfied.”

Still, there was a lingering sense that more might have been possible. Van Veen felt Price played well, but was certainly not untouchable.

“Of course, it’s a crying shame to lose this match. Because he was good, but not great. And I know that if I’d been really good this tournament, I could have beaten him. But I wasn’t that this week.”