Van der Velde takes new step in career three years after junior world title: 'Everything fell nicely together on that day'

Jurjen van der Velde became the JDC World Champion in 2018 at the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC), a organisation for talented darts players aged ten to seventeen. Last month, the 18-year-old from Dutch county Groningen took a beautiful new step in his career.

Van der Velde won the first tournament of the season on the PDC Development Tour. The Development Tour is the youth circuit of the PDC for players aged 16 to 24. In the past, this tour was a springboard to the world top for players such as Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Dimitri van den Bergh and Luke Humphries.

Van der Velde is not that far yet, but he has already made a start. To the surprise of the protagonist himself. ''I did not expect to win a tournament right away. I did not believe I would win a PDC-title immediately after a year of not playing (due to the Coronavirus pandemic ed.)'', he told Dartsnieuws.com in an interview.

During his winning tournament, the young Dutchman triumphed against Adrian Dorzbacher (4-0), Marvin van Velzen (4-0), Roman Benecky (4-2), Robin Radloff (4-0), Damian Mol (5-3), Mark Tabak (5-0) and Bradly Roes (5-2). His good finishes in the first two matches proved to be the prelude to a very successful tournament.

''I was good and sharp on the doubles in the first two matches. So I thought, if this continues, it can become a nice tournament. That is what happened, I kept doing the right things at the right moments. Everything fell nicely together that day'', said Van der Velde.

Van der Velde is currently third on the Development Tour ranking with £3150 of prize money after six tournaments, behind Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (£6500) and Niels Zonneveld (£3600). The number one after twelve tournaments gets a two-year Tour Card and qualifies for the Grand Slam of Darts and the World Darts Championship. Van der Velde agreed that this may be too high for him, but he focuses on another goal.

''At first I want to qualify for the PDC World Youth Championship and try to get a UK Open spot. Is that a realistic goal? ''Yes, especially if I have another weekend like the first one.

Participation in the PDC World Youth Championship has already been secured, but to qualify for a spot at the 2022 UK Open, Van der Velde must finish in the top five of the Development Tour ranking.

But even if he doesn't, Van der Velde still has time to develop further on the PDC Development Tour. ''I am still one of the youngest participants and I still have five or six years to go. I think it is great that as an 18-year-old I am so high up the rankings.''

The ultimate goal is of course a PDC Tour Card, which allows Van der Velde to play against the best players in the world at the Pro Tour tournaments. He doesn't think that far ahead yet.

''I haven't thought about that yet. I still have two years of schooling left. First I want to play as many tournaments as possible on the PDC Development Tour. Next year possibly Q-School and the Challenge Tour, but I don't necessarily want a Tour Card in 2023.''

Besides his darts career, Van der Velde follows the Junior Business Controller study at the ROC Friese Poort in Drachten. He is now in his second year. Partly because of the Coronavirus pandemic, he is able to combine that with his darts career.

''In the beginning, I had my doubts, because it is a 'level 4' education. But then the Coronavirus came, many darts tournaments were cancelled. That allowed me to focus on school, so that was my luck'', concludes Van der Velde.