2023 Development Tour Order of Merit winner Gian van Veen claimed the Event Five title as the opening weekend of the 2024 Winmau Development Tour concluded in Milton Keynes on Sunday.
A record number of entrants got the action underway on Friday as Danny Jansen claimed Event One and Irishman Keane Barry won the Event Two honours.
World Youth finalist Gian van Veen claimed the final title on offer of the opening weekend of Development Tour action, to end the weekend in second spot of the OoM standings behind Keane Barry.
Van Veen claimed six Development Tour titles during 2023 and came close to adding to that figure when reaching the final of Event Two on Friday, losing to Keane Barry in a last leg decider.
His Event Five campaign kicked off in impressive fashion, racing through to the Last 16 stage having lost just three legs in his opening four matches.
He opened with a whitewash win over Czech player David Fidler before a 4-2 success over Lewis Gurney. He then defeated another Englishman in Connor Arberry by four legs to one before beating compatriot Colinn Haverkate without dropping a leg.
A 93 average saw van Veen get the better of Owen Bates in the Last 32 by four legs to two and put in similar performance to beat Wessel Nijman 5-1 in the quarter finals.
He improved that to just over 100 when beating Cam Crabtree in the semi finals without losing a leg and although that dipped to 87 in the final, it was still enough to beat Ireland’s Dylan Slevin in another whitewash victory meaning van Veen claimed the Event Five title, losing just six legs across his eight matches.
Despite a shock loss in the Last 128 to Pim van Bijnen in Event Five, Keane Barry’s performances in the opening two days saw him finish the weekend top of the Order of Merit standings.
In second is Event Five winner Gian van Veen, meaning the two highest ranked players eligible for the Tour are currently leading the way.
The standings in full can be found here.
2024 Winmau Development Tour
Sunday February 25, Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
Event Five
Quarter-Finals
Dylan Slevin 5-2 Moreno Blom
Daniel Stephenson 5-4 Nathan Potter
Cam Crabtree 5-4 Bradly Roes
Gian van Veen 5-1 Wessel Nijman
Semi-Finals
Dylan Slevin 5-2 Daniel Stephenson
Gian van Veen 5-0 Cam Crabtree
Final
Gian van Veen 5-0 Dylan Slevin
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