Gian van Veen just booked his first-ever ticket to the Betfred World Matchplay semi-finals, and he did it the hard way. The 23-year-old Dutchman secured a grueling 16-13 victory over 2007 champion James Wade under the sweltering lights of the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
But the real story wasn’t just the final scoreline. A highly vocal heckler repeatedly targeted van Veen during the closing, high-pressure stages of the match. How do you respond to that kind of distraction? You pin a clutch 118 checkout to completely kill your opponent’s momentum.
“When I checked out that 118, I just thought: this is for you,” van Veen stated in his post-match interview. He actually credited the hostile crowd member for providing a sudden, aggressive motivational spark right when he needed it to close out the victory.
Revenge and the Road Ahead
This win carries serious historical weight for the young star. It delivers direct revenge against Wade, the exact veteran who eliminated him at this specific quarter-final stage during the 2025 tournament. It’s a massive mental hurdle cleared.
Yet, van Veen was surprisingly blunt about his current form. He openly admitted he isn’t playing his absolute best darts right now. Instead, he’s relying entirely on a rapidly growing mental resilience to scrape out wins against heavily seasoned veterans.
That resilience is going to be tested immediately. Van Veen now advances to face former World Champion Gerwyn Price in the final four. Price secured his own spot earlier in the evening when he defeated Ross Smith 16-12 in a parallel quarter-final clash.
The semi-final stage is officially set. And if the Blackpool crowd plans to keep heckling, they might want to rethink their strategy.