Gian van Veen has reached the final of the Darts World Cup in London. The 23-year-old darts player from Poederoijen, Gelderland, defeated two-time world champion Gary Anderson 6-3 in sets in the semi-finals on Friday evening in an exuberant Alexandra Palace. He will face the English defending champion Luke Littler in the final battle on Saturday.
After Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen, Van Veen is the third Dutchman to reach the final of the World Darts Championship. Van Barneveld was the first Dutch world champion with the PDC darts association in 2007. Van Gerwen won the title three times: in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Van Gerwen lost the final to Littler last year.
Van Veen won his first major prize in Dortmund at the end of October by being crowned European champion. He defeated Englishman Luke Humphries in the final, whom he defeated again in the quarter-finals at the World Cup in London. With that victory, Van Veen climbed to third place in the world rankings and replaced Van Gerwen as the best Dutchman.
With Anderson, Van Veen met a darts great. The 55-year-old Scot has reached the World Cup final five times and emerged as world champion twice: in 2015 and 2016.
Ten darter and ‘big fish’
Anderson won the first set, Van Veen leveled the score by winning a leg with a ten-darter and finishing with 117. The young Dutchman then finished 4-1. Anderson constantly put the pressure on, but Van Veen was undeterred. He managed to throw a leg in the fifth set with 170 (a so-called ‘big fish’).
Afterwards, Anderson managed to take control of the match for a while; he scored 180’s and came back to 4-3. Van Veen did not break and fought to win in the eighth set: 5-3. Although the tension increased and Van Veen missed a number of doubles, the Dutchman managed to convert a 2-1 deficit in legs into a decisive 3-2 in the ninth set.
Mental strength
Gian van Veen called reaching the final of the World Darts Championship in London “unbelievable”. The young Dutchman not only defeated the Scot Gary Anderson, he also withstood the hostile crowd. “I don’t want to complain about it, but the audience was not in my favor,” said the 23-year-old darts player at Viaplay. “I understood it, because Anderson is a legend and I am a newcomer. But at one point I had a hard time with the whistling and cheering. It frustrated me and I was afraid that it would cost me the match.”
Van Veen managed to close himself off from the audience in time and regain focus. “It paid off that I talked a lot with specialists about mental strength. When I got to 5-3, the confidence was back that I could win the match. I am now going to enjoy this victory.” (AP)
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