Gian van Veen could have been flying in another career if darts hadn't worked out. The Dutchman faces Gary Anderson in the World Championship semi-final on Friday night after his crushing 5-1 victory over Luke Humphries.

Whatever happens against the Flying Scotsman, it has been an incredible few months for Van Veen, who claimed his maiden major PDC title in October by winning the European Championship, beating Humphries in the final, and then became World Youth champion the following month. His win against Humphries propelled him up to third in the world rankings, making him Dutch number one ahead of Michael van Gerwen, and meant he is assured of a place in the 2026 Premier League for the first time. But even if his darts career hadn't taken off, the intelligent 23-year-old could have still been taking to the sky. Plane buff Van Veen boasts a degree in aviation and previously worked at Amstadram's Schiphol Airport.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, he told the Express: "I studied aviation but it's quite a broad subject. I could do whatever I want at the airport, like logistics, engineering. As long as it was something to do with aviation, I would have been happy."

Van Veen was still studying as his darts career was getting off the ground. He admits it wasn't a hard decision to focus on the oche rather than aviation.

He said: "When I started the study, I was playing on the PDC but not at the standard I am now. I got my tour card when I still had six months left on my studies, so that was a bit difficult because I wanted to get my degree.

"I missed some ProTour [tournaments] because of school obligations. But I got my degree and it's full focus on darts now. Hopefully, I can continue this for many more years."

While he is unlikely to need it anytime soon, having a fallback option if your first-choice career hits the skids is a luxury not many players have. Van Veen added: "For sure, now it's going really good and I've just bought a house with my girlfriend.

"But if darts doesn't work out or if you break your elbow and can't throw a dart anymore, it's nice to have something to fall back on to pay your mortgage. It definitely relieves some pressure."

Van Veen's hero as a youngster wasn't one of the Dutch darting icons, Raymond van Barneveld or Van Gerwen, but the man who stands between him and a place in the Ally Pally final.

He revealed: "Gary Anderson was my darts hero growing up. He just makes it seem so effortless. That's the reason why I fell in love with darts.

"Stand at the oche, lift your dart, bang, treble 20. It was easy on the eye. From 10, 11 years old, I always looked forward to his games. I was always right in front of the television."

Therefore, playing against Anderson for the first time was a surreal experience. He said: "The first time I played against him was a bit weird, I have to say. He knew I was a fan of his. He said, 'You have to let me win now because you're a fan!' It was fun.

"Gary's such a nice guy. He made me feel comfortable right away. Even now, he's still up there in the rankings playing fantastically. I'm always excited to play Gary."