VAN VEEN AIMS TO DOMINATE DARTS WITH LITTLER
23/04/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
GIAN VAN VEEN hopes to be battling Luke Littler at the top of darts for years to come.
The 23-year-old beat the teen sensation 7-4 in the semi-final of the German Grand Prix with a massive 110 average.
World Youth Champ Van Veen took an early 3-0 lead in the match after hitting hit two ton-plus checkouts—including a stunning 128 finish.
But Littler fought back after changing his darts in the fourth leg of the bout to lead 4-3 after a slow start.
Van Veen then overturned the deficit with a blistering late surge to reach his second European Tour final.
Dutch thrower Van Veen heaped praise on ‘The Nuke’ and hopes they can both dominate the oche together in the future.
He told talkSPORT: “Luke will be around for many more years to come.
“Hopefully I can be at the same level as him in 10 years’ time and dominate the sport with him.
“I beat Luke with a 110 average but that is what you need to do to overcome him.
“It’s tough to do it week in and week out.
“Gezzy Price beat him six times so he knew what he had to do to overcome Luke and be in his head.
“If I play like how I did in Munich then of course I can always triumph against him.
“He is a phenomenal player. I was 3-0 up and he changed his darts and put in four amazing legs.
“I was like ‘wow here we go’.
“Luckily I turned it around but he’s so naturally talented.
“I just hope I can make his games feel difficult against me for years to come.”
‘The Giant’ is enjoying a breakout season as he won his first ProTour title at the Players Championship Six where he beat world No. 1 Luke Humphries 8-3 in the final.
He also made the final at Event Five but lost 8-7 to Joe Cullen despite averaging over a ton and missing SIX match darts.
World No. 23 Van Veen has the best checkout percentage on tour at 47.28 percent showing his flawless talent on hitting the outer ring.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
