Gian van Veen has, without too much difficulty, managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Darts World Cup. In the fourth round, the Andelse darts player was too strong for Englishman Charlie Manby on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Van Veen has never reached the quarter-finals of the most important darts tournament of the year before. The last eight may meet a finalist from last year or another Dutchman.
It is a great year for the 23-year-old darts player, who moved to Brabant from Poederoijen in Gelderland this summer. In October he became European champion and he took that good form to the prestigious world championship in London.
Van Veen’s opponent was Charlie Manby. The 20-year-old Englishman participated in a World Cup for the first time and immediately reached the fourth round.
Broken
At the start of the match it seemed to be a tough evening for the Dutchman. In the first set, Van Veen was broken by his opponent, but he managed to turn around the 2-1 deficit in legs and take the first of the four required sets.
The second set was won well by the Englishman, after which it was time for the number 10 in the world to step up a gear and quickly regain a 2-1 lead in sets.
In the third set the European champion was completely loose. One maximum score of 180 after another flew in and he did not give his English opponent a single leg.
A set later the game was over. Van Veen again gave his opponent little chance and made the final score 4-1 in sets, with the Dutchman recording a neat average of 98.48 and throwing 180 no fewer than nine times.
Thanks to this victory, Van Veen is one step closer to one million pounds, the amount the winner of the world championship receives. Van Veen has never reached the quarter-finals of the Darts World Cup. In fact, the darts player never got further than the last 64 until this year. Thanks to this victory, Van Veen is virtually in 5th place in the world rankings.
Possible Brabant clash
In the quarter-finals, Gian van Veen may meet another Dutchman: Kevin Doets. Just like Van Veen, he is participating in a top tournament. But then Doets first has to deal with Luke Humphries later this evening, and it’s not that easy. The 30-year-old Englishman became world champion two years ago.
If Van Veen wins that quarter-final against Doets or Humphries, a meeting with Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals may await. It’s just not that far yet, because that has to be the case Wrecking ball from Vlijmen also win his next two matches.
Who is Gian van Veen?
Gian van Veen is a 23-year-old darts player, born just above the rivers in Poederoijen. He has been living with his girlfriend in Andel in Brabant for a number of months. This year the 23-year-old talent became European darts champion. In addition to darts, Van Veen is a big fan of football and supports FC Den Bosch.