Gian van Veen could hardly believe that he had reached the final of the World Darts Championship – against, of all people, the English defending champion Luke Littler, to whom he had lost at the Junior World Championship in November 2023. After his brilliant semi-final victory over double world champion Gary Anderson from Scotland, the Dutchman repeatedly tapped the back of his head in disbelief and then tapped his forehead with his darts case. In between, he rested his arms on the bar table that held his arrows and a water bottle and let his head fall for a moment. Reaching the final of the most important annual event, van Veen later stammered with emotion, was not a dream come true because he never even dared to dream about it.
