Gian van Veen has delivered a frank self-assessment of his recent form, admitting "my performances haven't really been up to the standard I was hoping for" despite a strong start to his Premier League Darts campaign. The young Dutchman, who has recently broken through to the top level of the PDC tour, reflected on an intense period of traveling, playing, and adapting across the World Series, Pro Tour events, the European Tour, and especially the Premier League Darts.
Van Veen acknowledged the demanding schedule has been "a lot busier than I was expecting" but viewed it positively overall. He specifically highlighted his scoring consistency as an area for improvement, stating, "I haven't had enough 100 plus averages." However, he emphasized that winning matches even without his best darts shows important development, pointing to his Premier League performance in Glasgow as an example: "Scoring-wise I wasn't really up there, but my finishing kept me in the game." He believes this demonstrates his game now has multiple dimensions, adding, "For me, that shows I can do it both ways. And as soon as both of them click, I'm very dangerous."
The European Tour remains a key priority for Van Veen, who sees these events as foundational for development between majors. "The European Tour is very important for every player because that's where you gain experience between the majors," he explained, noting they're also crucial for rankings. With extra motivation after winning the European Championship last year, he's determined to defend his title, making the European Tours "even more important."
Van Veen shared these thoughts during the first European Tour event in Krakow, Poland, where he experienced a warm welcome from Polish darts fans. "They were amazing tonight," he said, describing how "even the little kid in front of me had made a drawing of me. I'd never seen that before." He observed that darts is rapidly growing in Poland, with World Series events selling out "in hours, even minutes" in recent years. The Krakow arena was "completely full" with "around three and a half to four thousand people" for a sold-out crowd, which Van Veen called "fantastic." He concluded, "I think it's a really good step from the PDC to bring European Tour events to Poland."
