Gian van Veen may be flying on the oche at the World Series of Darts Finals, but his taste buds were given a brutal workout in IJmuiden. The Dutchman, fresh from a 6-2 first-round win over Chris Dobey, took his Instagram 'Local Treat Tour' to the harbour for its finale, and the local herring did not go down well. "No, it's not for me, this," he declared after one bite. "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."
Van Veen had opened the video by welcoming viewers back to the Local Treat Tour, noting previous stops in Copenhagen, New York, Auckland and Sydney before arriving in IJmuiden. "We're going to do it the Dutch way," he said, heading to the harbour for "some fresh fish straight out of the North Sea." He admitted the herring was "not really my cup of tea, but it's worth a go for you guys." After the first bite, he refused a second: "No, I'm not doing that, sorry." His final verdict was unsparing: "I know I should be biased because it's my own country, but I'm not going to be. 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."
The herring finished bottom of his rankings, behind the New York bagel (8.2), Kanelsnegle (8), Kiwi Pie (6.5) and Vegemite (4.5). On the dartboard, van Veen's first-round win over Dobey saw him average 95.47 with a highest checkout of 101, while Dobey missed 11 darts on the outer ring. It was van Veen's first ever win in this event.
Van Veen's World Series year began with a final in Bahrain, where he lost to Michael van Gerwen, before consecutive quarter-final exits in Saudi Arabia and Denmark. He then reached the semi-finals in New York, followed by another brace of quarter-final losses Down Under. He will now face 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.
