‘Van Veen is the real deal’published at 19:39 GMT
19:39 GMT
Littler v Van Veen
Matthew Edgar
Former PDC professional on BBC Radio 5 Live
I was excited about Gian van Veen a couple of months ago. We were asking ‘where is he going to go, what is his career going to do?’
If we go back a couple of years he was losing in the first round of Challenge Tours and struggling to throw his darts.
What a journey he’s been on where he’s accelerated to catch the eye.
The big question is: Can he take those big steps? The victory over Luke Humphries at the World Matchplay was the moment where you say right, Gian van Veen is the real deal.
He backed it up with a win over Luke Littler on the European Tour as well, and then the big coming-of-age moment was picking up the European title. That was the moment we should have all taken note and said ‘this is a serious contender’.