Van Veen reveals he overcame battle with dartitis: "Maybe it helped my career"

One of the new stars of Dutch darts, Gian van Veen has burst onto the scene over the last few months. A little known however, is that the 21-year-old has been battling with dartitis.

“Even with dartitis I started playing better each month. I was averaging 90-95,” he reveals in conversation with the Darts Show Podcast. “I played on the ProTour with dartitis, I won a Challenge Tour and Development Tour title with dartitis."

Having to overcome this difficulty has done nothing to slow down van Veen's progress, in fact, the Dutchman feels he may have benefited because of it. “I thought at first it was going to destroy my game, but the results were still there and my game was getting better," he explains. “Luckily I managed to battle through it and I’ve got rid of it now. Maybe it helped my career."

“I don’t have a golden tip or anything, I don’t know how I got rid of it," continues van Veen. "It’s all about confidence and belief and when you win games, it’s easy to gain confidence.”

Despite his electric form in recent months, van Veen has begun to find wins hard to come by, averaging over 100 in each of his last four defeats on the Pro Tour. “My numbers are up there, but in the last four ProTours I have lost with a 100+ average. I keep telling myself that if I keep playing like this, the results will come," he says, maintaining confidence.

“Sometimes it is tough, but I will keep digging in, and if I play like I have been, I believe a title is in reach. “I just want to make the World Championship and Players Championship Finals this year. I’m looking good on the ProTour Order of Merit and the Development Tour Order of Merit for the World Championship," he explains, outlining his goals. “I really want to make that this year, and the top 64 at the end of next year is my target, then who knows what happens?”