Gian van Veen details pressure of partnering 'lone wolf' Michael van Gerwen at the World Cup of Darts

Gian van Veen revealed that playing alongside Michael van Gerwen comes with its own kind of pressure as The Netherlands prepare to kick-off their 2026 World Cup of Darts campaign this evening.

As one of the four seeded teams to feature, The Netherlands will get their tournament underway this evening when they take on Sweden in Eissporthalle in Frankfurt.

Only England have won the tournament more times than the Netherlands since its inception in 2010, when a team of Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompe claimed the inaugural crown.

However, despite their wealth of darting talent the Netherlands haven't won the competition since 2018 when Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld combined to defeat Scotland 3-1 in the final.

In last year's World Cup Van Veen and Danny Noppert reached the semi-final stage with wins over Scotland and the Czech Republic before a collapse against Wales saw them miss out on a place in the final.

Speaking to bet365 Van Veen insisted that he believes the experience will benefit him ahead of his second appearance.

"Last year I enjoyed that tournament so much with Danny Noppert," he said. "I really had a good weekend there.

"Of course we made the semi-finals but I think we maybe could have gone a little bit further, we started well in the semis and then we fell off a cliff a little bit."

Van Veen will return for a second bite of the cherry this week, as he partners Van Gerwen for the first time.

The pair are coming off a Premier League darts season that saw both men fail to secure a place in the play-offs as Luke Littler went on to be crowned champion for a second time.

"I think there’s going to be extra pressure playing with Michael."

- Gian van Veen on partnering Michael van Gerwen at the 2026 World Cup of Darts

"If it would have been my first time I would have felt so much pressure but now I’ve played there before so I know what it’s like.

"In the Premier League I spent 16 weeks with Michael, we spent a lot of time together, I’ve come to know him much better and I think that will help our connection in the tournament as well.

"We talked about [the tournament] briefly but, last year because I get along with Danny Noppert really well it really felt like a team.

"I think with Michael, it’s going to be a little bit different because he’s more of a lone wolf in that regard. But it’s definitely an experience that I’m very much looking forward to and I think it’s going to be a great one."

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