Cameron Menzies Defeats Gian van Veen 8-4 to Win PC29

Cameron Menzies Players Championship 29 ended in style for the Scot, who beat Gian van Veen 8-4 in Tuesday’s final at Maassport Den Bosch. It was his second ProTour title of 2026, sealed after seven consecutive wins across a single day of darts. Menzies never trailed in the final, racing into an early lead and holding his nerve to the finish.

Executive Match Summary & Scoreboard

Cameron Menzies defeated Gian van Veen 8-4 in the final.

Menzies claimed the title in Den Bosch, completing a run through seven matches without his composure slipping once all day. He opened with an average above 101 against Nick Kenny, a mark that set the tone early, then survived a last-leg decider against Jim Long to reach the last 32.

From there he beat Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4, top seed Wessel Nijman 6-4, Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 in the quarter-finals, and Kevin Doets 7-5 in the semi-finals. Each round asked a different question of him, and each time he found an answer. Van Veen, meanwhile, reached his first Players Championship final in 18 appearances in 2026, but found Menzies in ruthless early form once the pair got on stage.

The final swung one way from the very first leg. Menzies raced into a 5-0 lead before van Veen found any rhythm at all. By the time the Dutchman had steadied himself, the gap was already too wide to close. Menzies wrapped up the 8-4 win to lift his fourth career ProTour title, a result that continues an excellent year on the circuit.

Detailed First Half Narrative

Menzies set the tone early in Den Bosch. His round one win over Nick Kenny came with an average north of 101, the kind of scoring that tends to settle a player into a big day rather than simply announce it. He barely broke stride, and Kenny had little answer to the weight of scoring coming back at him leg after leg.

Round two told a very different story. Jim Long pushed Menzies all the way to a deciding leg, and it was the sort of match that can end a title run before it properly starts. Menzies held his nerve when it mattered most, closing it out to reach the last 32 with his bid for silverware still alive.

The middle rounds brought sterner tests again. Benjamin Pratnemer took Menzies to 6-4 before folding, and top seed Wessel Nijman fared no better, also beaten 6-4. Both wins carried real weight given the standard in the draw that day. Nijman arrived at Maassport Den Bosch as the man many expected to lift the title, yet he left without a set to show for it.

Elsewhere in Den Bosch, the day produced two nine-dart finishes, one from Cristo Reyes and one from Max Hopp, either of which would normally dominate the headlines on their own. Instead they became footnotes to a day defined by shock exits at the top of the draw. Michael van Gerwen, Luke Woodhouse, Krzysztof Ratajski and Martin Schindler were all gone by the end of round one, clearing space at the top end of the draw that Menzies made full use of as the day wore on.

Detailed Second Half Narrative & Drama

Jeffrey de Graaf stood between Menzies and the semi-finals, and lost 6-3 for his trouble. Menzies was by now finding his scoring range consistently, and de Graaf could not live with the tempo over the closing legs of that match.

Kevin Doets pushed him closest of any opponent on the day. The semi-final went the distance to 7-5, a scoreline that suggests a genuine contest rather than a formality, and Menzies had to work through spells where Doets found his own scoring and threatened to level things up. He came through it with his composure intact and his average holding up nicely heading into the final.

Then came the final itself. Gian van Veen, playing in his first Players Championship final after 18 ranking events in 2026, never really got the chance to settle into the occasion. Menzies took the opening five legs without reply, a burst built on early scoring and clinical finishing that left van Veen chasing the match from the very first dart thrown.

Van Veen did find something once the deficit reached 5-0, taking legs back and giving the Den Bosch crowd a contest to watch again. But the gap was too steep to overturn, and every leg he won still left him needing several more just to draw level. Menzies closed the match out 8-4, sealing his second ProTour title of the year in front of a supportive crowd.

Speaking afterwards, Menzies played down any grand plan behind the run: “I just wanted to win a game today. To go and win another ProTour is awesome, I’m so happy.” He also reflected on where the win sits in a career that has quietly built up a strong record on the tour. “I think this is my fifth year on the tour and I’ve won four ProTours. That’s not bad I suppose!”

He was equally candid about what drives him now, pointing to a difficult period behind the scenes that has shaped his season. “I’ve put more effort in this year than I ever have because I nearly lost it all and I’m grateful to be in this position.” Looking further ahead, he was careful not to overreach with his ambitions. “My aim is to make a good life for myself. That’s the aim that I think is achievable, but winning a major and having a good run at the World Championship would be amazing.”

It caps a season in which Menzies has already shown he can go deep on the biggest days, including his World Matchplay qualification battle and his recent ProTour buffer earlier in the year. The full breakdown of the day in Den Bosch is available in the PDC official report.

Player Ratings (home side)

Cameron Menzies: 9/10. Seven wins in a single day, including a 101-plus average in round one and back-to-back 6-4 victories over Pratnemer and top seed Nijman. He never trailed in the final, building a 5-0 lead and holding his scoring steady under pressure from Doets in the semi-final. A near flawless day from start to finish across seven matches.

Player Ratings (opponent)

Gian van Veen: 7/10. Reached his first Players Championship final in 18 appearances this year, a genuine landmark for the Dutchman, but the 5-0 start from Menzies left him chasing the match throughout. He rallied well to take legs back once the gap was set, showing real character even as the scoreline moved beyond reach by the closing exchanges.

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