“No, it's not for me, this" - Gian van Veen brutally rates local food while competing in World Series of Darts Finals
PDC
Gian van Veen is one of the many darters competing at the
World Series of Darts Finals as he looks to add a second major to his title catalogue.
Over the course of the year, he has enjoyed travelling and documenting his
ventures around the world on the World Series, with it all having culminated in
his home country of Amsterdam.
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After competing in the Dutch Darts Masters in 2024 and 2025
as a local representative, he has stepped up to being one of the PDC
challengers and has featured in every event this year. From the Middle East to Scandinavia
to North America to Oceania back home, it has been quite the journey for ‘The
Giant.’
“Hi everyone,” he began in an Instagram video. “Welcome back
to the Local Treat Tour. It's the finale. We've been to Copenhagen, we've been
to New York, we've been to Auckland and we've been to Sydney. But right now
we're here in IJmuiden in the Netherlands, and we're going to do it the Dutch
way.”
More important things than darts - food tasting
Van Veen quickly noted his comfortable first round win. “So
yesterday I played in the first round of the World Series Finals against Chris
Dobey.,” he recalled. “Solid 6-2 win, quite happy with the performance. Bit up
and down, but in the end, a comfortable win. I think that's what matters.”
Averaging 95.47, van Veen got a highest checkout of 101 while
his opponent was far off his best, missing 11 darts on the outer ring as van
Veen cruised to a first ever win in this event.
However, he had bigger priorities than darts. “But right now
we've got more important things on our mind. I'm driving to IJmuiden right now,
to the harbour, for some fresh fish straight out of the North Sea. Let's go
fishing.”
He went to go and get the grub. “So here we are in the
harbour of IJmuiden. It doesn't get much more local than this, right? And
because we are here in the Netherlands, here in IJmuiden, there's only one real
option that I'm going to be tasting today. It's the fresh herring. It's not
really my cup of tea, but it's worth a go for you guys. So this must be the
place. Looks quite nice. Let's see what they have in store for us.”
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Gian van Veen is back in action on the World Series of Darts
Van Veen puts herring bottom of the list
The herring was secured, and van Veen was ready to taste it.
“I've never tried this before, but it doesn't look good. But you know, here
goes nothing.”
It is fair to say that it was not for van Veen. “No, it's
not for me, this. Well, it's what a fish would taste like, but you see, it's
very slippery. The onion next to it kills a bit of the fish taste, which is
good for me. But, oh no, this is not my cup of tea, this.”
Second bite? Van Veen gave a firm answer. “No, I'm not doing
that, sorry.” His final rating was brutal. “So then, for the final verdict, I
know I should be biased because it's my own country, but I'm not going to be.
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“The herring doesn't do it for me. Actually, I'm going to
put it at the bottom of the list. A 3.5. You saw it there. I only took one bite
and afterwards I couldn't do much more. So, no, at the bottom of the list.”
Read also
In all the places van Veen went on the World Series, he has
ranked the local delicacies that he has tried. Despite being on home soil, the
herring was by far the worst.
First with an 8.2 is the New York bagel, closely followed
by Kanelsnegle with an 8. The Oceanic foods came next, with the Kiwi Pie on 6.5
comfortably above the Vegemite, ranked 4.5. Bringing up the hear is the herring.
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Van Veen gunning for glory on home soil
It has been a mixed bag on van Veen's first full year competing on the World Series. He began with a bang in Bahrain, reaching the final before losing to Michael van Gerwen. He would then lose in consecutive quarter-finals in Saudi Arabia and Denmark.
New York proved to be slightly better as he departed at the semi-finals before another brace of quarter-final losses ended a slightly underwhelming trip Down Under. He will take on Dirk van Duijvenbode in the quarter-finals after his fellow countryman stunned Luke Humphries. Van Veen produced an impressive performance against Karel Sedlacek and will be ready for the showdown.
Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist
Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.
A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.
Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.
Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
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- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026
- I agree,I can't believe the lack of coverage of this sad loss. Always enjoyed watching him,but I guess now it's all about littler,well it seems that way. Darts has sadly lost a good manrick6717-10-2026
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