Gian van Veen has battled through injury to snag the European Championship after making his first televised PDC final – pipping Luke Humphries to the post in monumental fashion
Gian van Veen has won the European Championship with a convincing victory over Luke Humphries. The 23-year-old Dutchman showed the composure of a seasoned veteran to seal an 11-10 win over the World No. 1.
It was a tense state of affairs as Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle, as Van Veen recovered from 4-1 down, missed a double of double tops, and watched Humphries snag the bull to force a deciding set. However, he showed nerves of steel to nail a double 16 to take the first major title of his career.
Speaking with ITV Sport after his win, the teary-eyed young sensation said: “Crazy. I said it to my girlfriend when I walked on stage, whenever I win my first TV title, I wouldn’t cry and here I am crying.
“I will never forget this moment or even this crowd. It is phenomenal to win my first major in Germany.
“I said to Luke after the game, when he hit the bull to go 10-10, that is why he is world number one. That’s how amazing person Luke is. It is definitely a night to never forget.”
Elsewhere, giving his opponent his flowers for his incredible performance on the night, ‘Cool Hand’ Luke said: “I was hoping he was gonna s*** himself at the end there but he didn’t! I’m devastated, I’m gutted, but I’m accepting of defeat.”
As a result of the win, Van Veen scoops a massive £120,000 payday which takes him to seventh in the PDC Order of Merit – a rise of eight places and just over £50,000 away from a top-five spot.
However, Van Veen’s road to the final wasn’t without its challenges. The prodigy secured a 6-3 win over Damon Heta in his opening match, before dominating Ryan Searle 10-2 in the next round.
A 10-5 win over Ryan Joyce then ensued, before Van Veen met three-time World Champion, Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. During that cagey clash, Van Veen secured an 11-10 win – although he didn’t stamp his ticket to Sunday’s final unscathed.
That’s because during the match, Van Veen suffered a slight injury to his throwing hand as a result of his technique. Showing off his bloody injury in his post-match interview, the darts star noted how the pressure on his darts had took some of the skin off his thumb.
He explained: “I’m a bit bleeding! Today I’ve got a very heavy grip on my dart, which I love, but today it really hit me at the wrong point.
“I hold my dart here as well, so that’s why I was a bit struggling on stage. This is what I used on stage and you can see all the blood spatters, and it’s not ideal but I got the job done and that’s what matters.”
When asked if it would pose problematic in the final, he added: “During the game I already thought it was a problem and I’ve already thought I would have lost because of that, but I didn’t. It was a mental battle as well, because the blood got a bit slippery as well and my dart was slipping all over the place.
“But I got the job done and I’m going to focus now for the final. I’m going to sort this out, hopefully it stops bleeding and then I’ll be ready.”
It’s clear that the injury didn’t come as too much of a setback for Van Veen, who held his own against the world’s greatest player at present in Humphries, before securing the European Championship.