Gian van Veen reached the final on the ninth night of the 2026 Premier League Darts season but lost to Gerwyn Price, with post-match attention focused on a quarterfinal flare-up with Luke Littler. Van Veen admitted mixed feelings, saying, "Of course you're gutted about the final," but emphasized the importance of beating Littler first: "If you know beforehand that you're facing Littler first, that's the most important match of the night. You want to win that one. Everything after that is basically a bonus." He cleared that hurdle and won his semifinal, but noted his scoring wasn't great all night, adding, "Only, yes, if you're hit twice with a 128 checkout, it's over quickly."
Van Veen's run to the final came despite physical challenges, as he has been dealing with kidney stones in recent weeks. He explained, "I actually felt it already against Josh Rock. I went 3-2 up and in those first legs I felt good, my focus was really good. But after that I got a bit dizzy and my focus went quickly. Then I thought: this is going to be tough." He still won that match thanks to finishing and had time to recover, but said, "In the final I no longer had issues with that, but the level just had to be better." For his Premier League campaign, he noted, "Either I lose the quarterfinal or I lose the final. As long as I win the quarterfinal, then at least I've had a decent night. The quarterfinal is actually more important than the semifinal when you look at the ranking." His message for coming weeks is: "From now on it's simple: win quarterfinals. If you do that every week, the rest will follow."
The quarterfinal clash with Littler featured a visible moment of irritation, with Littler said to have celebrated after a miss by Van Veen, drawing a surprised reaction. The 19-year-old world champion took exception and made several gestures toward Van Veen, and after Van Veen hit the winning double, it continued briefly on stage. Van Veen said they have had no contact since: "No, we haven't spoken. He hasn't approached me either. I saw his reaction on social media; he thought it was funny. Well, I don't think things will be very friendly between us anytime soon." He added, "I'm here for myself. He's a fantastic darter, the world number one, so what he does for the sport is great. But I care little about what he thinks of me." Van Veen received support from fans online, which he noticed, saying, "Yes, I saw that too. Look, I tell it how it feels to me. And if I see people backing me, that's obviously nice. But in the end it doesn't matter that much."
Looking ahead to the next night in Brighton, Van Veen faces Michael van Gerwen, calling it "an important match." He said, "My leg difference isn't great, so I just have to keep winning matches. Hopefully Michael will have to give way next week." Meanwhile, Luke Littler has not yet responded publicly to the incident, but posted on his Instagram Stories afterwards. He first shared a screenshot of his honors list with the caption "goodnight godbless thankyou manchester," then later posted a screenshot of Van Veen's reaction with laughing emojis, seeming to find it laughable and disagree with it. An official response is still pending.
