Richard Veenstra
Veenstra in 2018
Personal information
Nickname	"Flyers"
Born	(1981-07-10) 10 July 1981 (age 42) Ossenzijl, Netherlands
Home town	Ossenzijl, Netherlands
Darts information
Playing darts since	2006
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Maria (I Like It Loud)" by Scooter
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2009–2020
PDC	2023– (Tour Card: 2023-)
WDF	2009–2022
Current world ranking	65 (20 February 2024)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Semi Final: 2016, 2022
World Masters	Last 16: 2015, 2018
World Trophy	Runner Up: 2019
Finder Masters	Runner Up: 2018
Dutch Open	Winner (1): 2019
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 32: 2024
UK Open	Last 96: 2023
Grand Slam	Group Stage: 2019
PC Finals	Last 32: 2023
Other tournament wins
British Classic 2018 British Open 2018 Denmark Masters 2021 German Masters 2017 Isle of Man Classic 2019 Italian Grand Masters 2021 Luxembourg Masters 2019 Luxembourg Open 2014 Scottish Open 2018
Medal record Men's Darts Representing  Netherlands WDF World Cup 2015 Antalya Men's pairs WDF Europe Cup 2016 Egmond aan Zee Men's singles 2016 Egmond aan Zee Men's pairs 2016 Egmond aan Zee Men's overall 2016 Egmond aan Zee Men's team 2018 Budapest Men's team

Richard Veenstra (born 10 July 1981) is a Dutch professional darts player who currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a Dutch Open champion, BDO World Trophy and Finder Darts Masters finalist and a medalist of the WDF World Cup and WDF Europe Cup.

Career

In October 2014, Veenstra won the Luxembourg Open beating Mark Oosterhuis in the Final 6–4.^[2] He reached the semi-finals of the 2015 Denmark Masters and England Open.^[3][4] In October 2015, he won WDF World Cup Pairs with Wesley Harms to beat Scott Mitchell and Mark McGeeney 6–3.^[5] On his debut at the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, Veenstra caused an upset beating compatriot and third seed Jeffrey de Graaf 3–2 in the first round, before beating English player Martin Atkins comfortably 4–0 in the second round. Veenstra then defeated defending champion Scott Mitchell 5–3 to reach the semi-finals, which he narrowly lost to Jeff Smith 6–5.

In September 2016, Veenstra won the WDF Europe Cup singles by beating Jim Williams in the final 7–5, averaging 93.18. In September 2018, he won both the BDO British Open and BDO British Classic in the same weekend.

Veenstra competed at the PDC European Q-School in 2020 but failed to gain a tour card.

At the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, Veenstra recorded the highest three dart average in the venue's history with 104.91, to defeat Luke Littler 3–0 in the last 16. In the quarter-final he almost achieved a nine-dart finish en route to a 4–2 victory against Brian Raman, but missed double 12. Veenstra was defeated in his semi-final match against Neil Duff, losing 5–2.

PDC

At 2023 European Q-School, Veenstra secured a PDC tour card for the 2023 and 2024 seasons by finishing second on the European Q-School Order of Merit.^[6]

Veenstra enjoyed a run to the third round at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship in his tournament debut year. Having defeated Ben Robb^[7] and the seeded Kim Huybrechts,^[8] he fell to a 0–4 whitewash defeat to Dutch compatriot Michael van Gerwen.

World Championship results

BDO/WDF

• 2016: Semi-finals (lost to Jeff Smith 5–6)
• 2017: Second round (lost to Danny Noppert 0–4)
• 2018: Quarter-finals (lost to Michael Unterbuchner 4–5)
• 2019: Second round (lost to Scott Waites 1–4)
• 2020: Second round (lost to David Evans 2–4)
• 2022: Semi-finals (lost to Neil Duff 2–5)

PDC

• 2024: Third round (lost to Michael van Gerwen 0–4)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 2 (2 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[N 1]
Runner-up	1.	2018	Zuiderduin Masters	Glen Durrant	3–5 (s)
Runner-up	2.	2019	BDO World Trophy	Jim Williams	6–8 (l)

Performance timeline

PDC European Tour