Gian van Veen booked his place in the World Matchplay quarter-finals as he ousted fellow Dutchman and young gun Wessel Nijman 14-12 in an all-Dutch affair on Wednesday night at the Winter Gardens.
Two of the hottest properties in darts right now went head to head, and in the end, the contest lived up to the billing. It was a tentative start, with Van Veen rushing into the first break leading 4-1 after reeling off four legs on the spin.
But the second mini-session was a complete contrast, as Nijman took the same score by the same margin to level the tie at 5-5. Nijman’s numbers told the story of his improvement between the two sessions – an 83 average in the first climbing to 104 in the second.
From there, the match everyone had been expecting played out, with barely a crack of daylight between the two Dutchmen. From the end of the second session onwards, Nijman kept his compatriot at arm’s length, or “finger’s length”, in the words of Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle.
Right up until the eighteenth leg, when Nijman made his move to break throw and edge back in front. But the match had been building towards a sudden-death finish, and it got exactly that. Two young arrowsmiths traded blows leg after leg, neither willing to give an inch, a gigantic 148 checkout from Van Veen saved the match at a critical moment, backed up by a string of majestic doubles that summed up the quality of the contest throughout.
In the end, it was Van Veen who came out on top of the battle of the Dutch young stars. The numbers reflected just how close it had been, with both finishing on a 97 average and landing 50% on the outer ring.Van Veen now goes on to face either James Wade or Ryan Searle in the quarter-finals, continuing what has already been a big week for the world number three.
A performance like this may put to bed some worries over his recent form and he will look forward to the challenge of a second consecutive Winter Garden quarter-final.
For Nijman, the defeat means a first major quarter-final continues to elude him, despite a tournament that has done nothing but enhance his reputation as one of the game’s brightest talents.
Images: T Lanning / PDC
