Gian van Veen signed up with Red Dragon as a 12-year-old.
Eleven years on, the world number three is heading for pastures new, with the announcement that he is joining the Winmau lineup.
Nodor Group, the parent company of both Winmau and Red Dragon, confirmed the move today, with the Dutchman ending a long stint as a Red Dragon ambassador. The switch keeps him within the Nodor stable, but means a few new sets of darts and a new set of stablemates.
It is a significant moment for a player whose rise has been rapid. Van Veen reached the 2026 PDC World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, having lost his opening matches in his two previous appearances.
He averaged 108.28 against Alan Soutar in round two, the highest of the tournament, beat Luke Humphries 5-1 in the quarter-finals and then Gary Anderson 6-3 in a semi-final of the highest quality. Luke Littler proved too strong in the final, winning 7-1, but the run catapulted Van Veen from tenth to third in the world rankings.
He had already been a winner on the big stage. Van Veen is the reigning European Champion, having beaten Humphries in a last-leg decider in Dortmund in October 2025, and he is a back-to-back PDC World Youth champion.
In an apt twist, that youth title carries the Winmau name. Van Veen won the PDC Winmau World Youth Championship in 2024 as the first Dutch winner, surviving five match darts from Jurjen van der Velde to win 6-5, and retained it a year later with a 6-3 win over Beau Greaves. Van der Velde is one of the players Van Veen will now join in the Winmau ranks.
The Winmau roster is packed with Dutch talent. Michael van Gerwen is the figurehead, and Danny Noppert, Vincent van der Voort, Van der Velde and since August, Jermaine Wattimena are all on the books.
Van Veen has already overtaken Van Gerwen as the leading Dutch player in the world rankings, following his run to the semi-finals of the 2026 World Championship. The pair partnered up for this year’s installment of the PDC World Cup of Darts.
Nodor Group’s press release described the move as a natural alignment, with Van Veen’s game having evolved to reflect Winmau’s core identity of technicality, control and considered play.
Van Veen said he was delighted to be joining Winmau as he looks ahead to the next exciting chapter in his career, adding that he had loved representing Red Dragon and that the brand had played a hugely significant part in his journey so far.
For more information, visit www.winmau.com.
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