Gian van Veen has openly admitted that his lack of titles is starting to gnaw at him following his exit at the World Series of Darts Finals. The world number three fell on Sunday evening in Amsterdam in the semi-finals to Ross Smith, and the manner of the defeat made it especially frustrating for the 24-year-old Dutchman.
Van Veen had looked strong throughout the tournament but could not sustain that level in the semi-final. Against Smith his average stalled at just over 85 points. When asked afterwards what went wrong, Van Veen did not need long to respond. "What didn't?" he quipped to Sportnieuws. Well before the match, Van Veen sensed he lacked his usual energy. The earlier session, he said, had taken its toll. "I noticed it already in my hotel room. I felt empty straight away. This afternoon cost a lot of energy and then you try to recharge. You arrive here thinking it will be fine again, but then you step on stage and realise the energy isn't there. He really wasn't great and was there to be had, but he was still much better than me. That hurts."
The defeat to Smith struck a nerve. With Luke Littler out earlier, the tournament looked open to him, but once again he failed to convert a strong position into a title. Van Veen sees a pattern emerging. "That was the case last week and the week before as well. It's like that every time, but it just doesn't happen every time. Maybe that's something I'm dealing with too. Winning too few titles as world number 3 is something you want to put right."
The Dutchman now belongs to the absolute elite and regularly goes deep at majors. That shift has also raised his own expectations. Solid runs are no longer enough for Van Veen. "Not for the whole tournament, but once you reach the semi-finals they are. I want to win those titles. I'm number 3 in the world, but I've only won two titles. A floor event and the European Championship, that's it. Never a Euro Tour either. I go far, but it keeps ending in the quarters or the semis. That eats at me, I have to be honest."
Despite the disappointment, Van Veen refuses to dramatise. He is only 24 and expects that winning one more title could change a lot. "I know that once I win, for example, a Euro Tour, things will click. I'm only 24 and we've got plenty of time, but at some point you want to make that step."
Meanwhile, Ross Smith went on to win the World Series of Darts Finals, defeating Gerwyn Price 11-5 in the final after averaging almost 104, securing a maiden World Series of Darts Finals title and his second Premier event of his career.