Gian van Veen retained the PDC Winmau World Youth Championship title on Sunday evening, defeating Beau Greaves 6-3 to triumph at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
Van Veen, 23, produced a polished display to topple Greaves and pocket the £12,000 top prize, which saw him emulate Belgian star Dimitri Van den Bergh and become the second player to win successive World Youth Championship titles.
The newly crowned European Champion drew first blood with a 14-dart hold of throw, having missed the bull for a spectacular 170 outshot in the previous visit.
Greaves opened her account with a 16-dart leveller via double eight, but Van Veen responded with a three-leg burst to take control, following up legs of 13 and 15 darts with a crucial 68 combination on tops to establish a 4-1 cushion.
The Doncaster trailblazer looked poised to restore parity after reeling off back-to-back legs to reduce the deficit to 4-3, although she was ruthlessly punished for missing five darts at doubles to level in leg eight, despite leaving herself on 96 after just nine darts.
Van Veen capitalised with his second 13-darter of the contest to regain control at 5-3, before sealing the deal in style, courtesy of a clinical 118 checkout.
“I’m over the moon. It feels really good to retain my title,” reflected Van Veen, also the runner-up to Luke Littler in 2023.
“I’m only the second player to retain the title after Dimitri, and to see what Dimi has done since - winning the World Matchplay and UK Open - I think they are encouraging signs for myself.
“Of course I won my first major title a couple of weeks ago, but we all know Beau is a fantastic player, so this gives me a massive confidence boost going into the World Championship.
“Ally Pally hasn’t been my favourite hunting ground. I haven’t won a game there yet, but I’m a completely different player to 12 months ago, so I’m really looking forward to it.
“This weekend has given me massive confidence, not just beating Beau but also beating Luke Humphries on Friday, so hopefully it’s going to be my year.”
Van den Bergh claimed back-to-back World Youth Championship titles in 2017 and 2018 respectively, while Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith also feature on the decorated World Youth Championship roll of honour before going on to become World Champion.
Greaves - who was a runaway winner of the PDC Women's Series this year and also finished second on the Winmau Development Tour rankings - will also compete at Alexandra Palace next month following a superb 2025 to date.