Vincent van der Voort has questioned Gian van Veen's reaction to his European Darts Championship defeat, admitting he was baffled to see the world number two watching a Borussia Dortmund football match with Stephen Bunting shortly after his exit. Speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast, Van der Voort said: "You'd think: you've just taken a beating, and now you're off to watch Dortmund. If I'd just lost, Dortmund could have collapsed for all I cared. It wouldn't have mattered to me at all."
Van der Voort, a former professional, was surprised that Van Veen could put his disappointment behind him so quickly. "Within an hour, you haven't really processed it yet. I just wouldn't have been in the right frame of mind. I'd have been gutted about losing," he said. Nevertheless, he accepted that every player deals with defeat differently: "Perhaps that's one of his strengths. Apparently, he handles it pretty well."
The podcast also discussed Van Veen's overall development. Van der Voort believes the Dutchman, who has climbed to second in the world rankings, must start winning major titles. "You can be quite critical of how he played this weekend when you're the world number two. A lot of people won't agree, simply because he is second in the world," he said. "It's not as though all his results have been poor. He's doing very well and often reaches the semi-finals on the Euro Tour. But if you want to go a little further, you have to win at some point. You have to play those matches really well, and that isn't happening right now."
Van der Voort warned that failing to win tournaments could eventually become a mental problem. "At some point in your career, you reach a stage where it's make or break. If you don't start winning, does it become an issue in your head and send everything downhill? Or can you put it into perspective and still be satisfied with what you're doing?" He added: "At first, you can think: I don't care, it'll happen eventually. But the longer it goes on, the more it becomes an issue. The press will make it a talking point too, and then you hear about it more and more."
Van der Voort also said the Netherlands has a deep pool of talent but lacks players who regularly win major televised tournaments. "We have top players, but we don't have anyone at the very top who can win a televised tournament right now. We're a country with a lot of good players. One player goes deep, then another, and Gian goes deepest most often," he said. He also praised Stephen Bunting: "Bunting is a really nice guy. He's the very definition of friendly and always makes time for everyone. He's struggled with his form quite a bit this year, but he played well in this tournament."
