Gian van Veen begins his European Championship title defence in Dortmund on Thursday evening, and the 24-year-old Dutchman has his sights set on joining Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen as the only players to successfully defend the European title. Van Veen, who has rediscovered his best form after a difficult start to 2026, is confident ahead of the tournament at the Westfalenhalle.
Van Veen made his breakthrough at the highest level in Dortmund last year, beating Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals before overcoming Luke Humphries in a deciding leg in the final to claim his first major individual PDC title. A year later, he returns as the world number three and eighth seed, and faces Andrew Gilding, the 2023 UK Open champion, in the first round. "I think it will be very special to be back in Dortmund after last year," Van Veen told pdc.tv. "I believe it's a tournament that really suits me well. Of course it was where I reached my first major semi-final three years ago, so this tournament has nice memories for me."
The European title proved the start of a hugely successful period for Van Veen, who reached the World Darts Championship final in January. Although he did not win the world title, he considers his run at Alexandra Palace the most important moment of his career so far. "I'm very proud of what I've accomplished since the European Championship," he continued. "The highlight has to be making the World Championship final. Even though I lost it, it was still such a career-defining moment for me." His strong performances also earned him a debut in the Premier League Darts, and he has continued to deliver impressive results at the major televised tournaments. "Playing in my first Premier League and all the World Series, and now doing well with the semi-finals at the World Matchplay, quarter-finals at the World Grand Prix," he said. "I think it's been going really well, and I'm glad that I could build on the success from Dortmund last year."
However, 2026 has not been entirely smooth for Van Veen. He suffered health problems in March and needed surgery for kidney stones, which came midway through his first Premier League season and seriously disrupted his campaign. Even after recovering, it took him time to find his usual level, and on the European Tour he lost his opening match three times in a row. "It definitely wasn't the easiest start to 2026, but I've learnt so much about myself," he said. "The main thing I've learned is that you can't perform at your 100% best every time. You cannot do that week in week out, especially with the schedule we have. You're going to lose more tournaments than you're going to win, and that's something you have to accept, especially during the Premier League where you play the top players every week."
After his difficult spell, Van Veen began to improve steadily over the summer, with his run to the World Matchplay semi-finals in July marking a particularly important turning point. In the past month, he has reached three European Tour semi-finals, and last weekend at the Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht he recorded a convincing 6-0 win over Sebastian Bialecki, averaging 120.24 over three darts to set a new European Tour record. "You couldn't pick a better time of the year to be in good form," said Van Veen. "Especially with the 120 average last weekend - even though it's only six legs, that also gives me a massive confidence boost to know that the work I've been putting in is showing on stage. I've shown everyone that I can still do it, so it's the perfect time to be in form with the European Championship, Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals and then of course the World Championship coming up."
Van Veen is one of five former European champions competing at this weekend's European Championship, but he faces a particularly tough challenge: no defending champion has even won their opening match at the European Championship since 2018. Should he win the title again, he would join a very select group, as only Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have won the European Championship in consecutive years. "It would mean absolutely everything of course," the Dutchman said. Alongside the sporting honour, Van Veen has another personal reason for wanting to defend his title: the trophy he won in Dortmund last year has held a special place in his home ever since, but with the next edition about to begin, he now has to hand it back. "That trophy has had a special place in our house and it's about to leave our house again, so I would like to have it back, otherwise it will feel empty!" he said. "That's a good motivation for myself this weekend, if I needed any at all!"
