"When I look at my game, maybe it’s not even 100% yet" - Room for improvement for Gian van Veen as he sets up last-16 showdown against Kevin Doets

Gian van Veen is back in the winning enclosure on the European Tour. A commanding 6-3 win over Connor Scutt with some scintillating ton+ checkouts gets the ball rolling at the International Darts Open.

The Dutchman came firing out of the blocks, taking out an incredible 141 checkout to start proceedings with a bang. Scutt kept within touching distance in the early stages, taking out 90 on the bull to make it 202 and continue the holds.

Van Veen also showed his quality when aiming for the bull, using it at the end of a hugely eye-catching 130 outshot. This was the beginning of a three-leg spurt that would see him sprint over the finishing line in fine fashion, taking out 72 in two darts on double six to complete a fine victory and get back to his old self back on stage.

'The Giant' comes into this event as the number one seed. He has had this tag next to him in three events this year, all of them he lost in the second round. Since reaching the final of the Poland Darts Open, he has managed just one win at the Belgian Darts Open, the third European Tour event of 2026, and nothing else to shout about since.

"I think everyone who’s watched me over the last couple of weeks knows it’s been tough. I’m grinding out the wins, and that’s what I did today," he stated in an interview after the win.

Van Veen has been struggling with kidney stones, losing a lot of strength and momentum which halted his Premier League Darts charge and seen him drop off in terms of form.

"As you said, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the finals day of a European Tour event. At my first European Tour in Kraków, I made the final. I won a game there, and since then I hadn’t won another game on finals day. So I really needed this win today. I felt really good in practice today, I felt really good on stage today, and I’m just really happy with this win."

There were some brilliant finishing in that match. Van Veen pinned 67% of his targets, a much more respectable conversion rate which is something he is synonymous with.

"I feel like it’s getting there. It’s been tough, but I feel like I’m getting better every week," he acknowledged. "I felt really comfortable today. Hopefully that carries on tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be my day."

While he would not say he was 100% yet, he was most certainly ready to put up a challenge on the oche, and that was showcased last night in Riesa. "It’s difficult to say. I feel comfortable, I feel ready, 100%," he confirmed.

"But when I look at my game, maybe it’s not even 100% yet, so it’s difficult to say. Today I felt good, and over the last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling really good as well. But yeah, I feel like I’m back physically at 100%, even if my averages and performances don’t show it yet. But it’ll come."

The first match of the day sees van Veen take on fellow Dutchman Kevin Doets for the first time on a big stage. Many darts fans have marvelled at the progress of Doets in recent times. He reached the final of the Austrian Darts Open the week he collected a maiden PDC ranking title on the floor.

It was not the most inspiring match against Luke Woodhouse in the semi-finals but he was able to come through it in a last-leg decider, halting any comeback efforts to seal another Sunday on the European Tour.

Van Veen was quick to praise 'Hawkeye,' "If you look at Dutch darts right now, Kevin is one of the top two — maybe even the number one Dutch player at the moment," he said. "That’s what he’s shown over the last couple of months."

He still believed that he could make a good game of it and get the better of Doets. "Hopefully tomorrow will be different. Hopefully he’ll let me into the game a bit. But if I turn up tomorrow, I think I’ve got a really good chance because Kevin and I know each other really well. Hopefully it’s going to be a great game.