VAN VEEN URGED TO REST AFTER SURGERY RETURN
29/03/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
GIAN VAN VEEN has been warned he risks breaking down his technique if he returns too quickly after surgery.
World No.3 Van Veen only made his comeback this week at Berlin on Night Eight of the Premier League after withdrawing from Dublin to undergo a kidney stone operation.
But the Dutchman’s outing ended in a heavy 6-1 quarter-final defeat to Gerwyn Price, where he managed to get just ONE dart at a double.
‘The Giant’ now sits sixth in the table, four points off the play-off places with eight weeks of action remaining and concerns are growing over his condition.
Former pro Matt Edgar believes rushing back could begin to compromise Van Veen’s throwing action.
He told the OLBG podcast: “Van Veen is someone who grips the darts towards the front end of the barrel, which means he needs to throw the darts with pace.
“With that, he is going to need all that strength, otherwise he is relying purely on expert timing and a little bit of momentum.
“We may even start to see him move and sway around with his body, which could start to break the technique down a little bit.
“So, there are things you look at here with Van Veen and you go he’s got to play it carefully.”
Edgar also questioned whether Van Veen should even play in next week’s ProTour events.
He added: “I mean, ProTours coming up Monday and Tuesday next week — would it be a good idea to skip those right now?
“I would suggest yes, because he doesn’t feel right within himself. He could win one of them and then you go, ‘Oh, that’s all well and good.’
“But does that have a knock-on effect? Because then he will be overly fatigued. You don’t come out of surgery and then go straight into top-level sport.
“You need that recovery time.”
Van Veen made an impressive start to the tournament, reaching a couple of nightly finals, but has not won a match since Week Four.
The European champion faces another tough test on Night Nine in Manchester, where he takes on rival Luke Littler.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
