Gian van Veen has climbed to 52nd in the world rankings and reached the semi-finals of the European Championship in his debut year. Could he be the next Michael van Gerwen in waiting?
The talented Dutchman has been one of the rising stars of the PDC Tour over the last 12 months having reached his first Players Championship final last November and in January he won a two-year PDC Tour Card via the Order of Merit at Q-School.
He debuted at the UK Open before making his mark at the European Championship, where he defeated Van Gerwen before losing in the semi-finals to James Wade.
Van Veen - a winner of six Development Tour titles this year - will take on 16-year-old Luke Littler in the final of the World Youth Championship in Minehead later this month.
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"The hype is justified," admitted Sky Sports pundit Laura Turner. "You don't go that deep into a tournament [European Championship] or beat Michael van Gerwen but he's also been very consistent with his performances and he's getting better and better - that's what we're starting to see.
"I guess the risk is what we saw with Josh Rock that he came in as one of the favourites for the World Championship based on what he's done on the floor and elsewhere but they're still young in their careers so it's just trying to keep people grounded and not get too excited.
"It's very hard because when you see a young talent come along you want to see these big wins, big averages and big results and Gian has had a few already but this is a very different ball game. I've been really impressed with what I've seen so far form him."
Van Veen struggled with dartitis [nervous twitching or tension that destroys concentration and spoils performance] several years ago.
He said: "It's a mental block, a kind of fear of failure. You don't dare let go of the arrow because you think and you know you'll miss. It took psychologists and mental coaches, but the ultimate solution was winning matches. Despite suffering from it, I did get better. Winning matches brought the self-confidence back."
Former Lakeside champion Mark Webster believes Van Veen has put those problems behind him and he'll be knocking on the door" at the big tournaments.
"Gian is one of the most improved players on the tour," said Webster. "There were issues with dartitis which he made it work and he's playing the best darts of his career. He's always been there or there about and I quite liked his reaction at the European Championship when he lost in the semi-finals. It was one of being gutted and not one of, 'I've made it to a semi-final, I feel like I've achieved stuff'.
"He's knocking on the door now and I think he's teeing up his career really well.
"He's projected to be in all the events next year, which is a lot of time between now and then but being at the Slam helps. He's going to be at the Worlds for the first time and also the Players Championship Finals at Minehead."
Welshman Webster added: "He's got a serious high-end game and when it all clicks into gear he's a tough player to beat.
"I'm looking forward to seeing him at the Grand Slam with no prize money to defend so he can go on the attack. He gets on with it, he's keen and he's taken some big scalps."
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Schedule of Play
Saturday November 11
Afternoon Session (1300-1700 GMT)
Group Stage x8 - Groups B-D-F-H First Matches
Damon Heta vs Ricardo Pietreczko (H)
Andrew Gilding vs Brendan Dolan (F)
Ryan Searle vs Gian van Veen (D)
Chris Dobey vs Josh Rock (B)
Danny Noppert vs Haruki Muramatsu (F)
Nathan Aspinall vs Beau Greaves (H)
Jonny Clayton vs Berry van Peer (B)
Gerwyn Price vs Nathan Rafferty (D)
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Group Stage x8 - Groups A-C-E-G First Matches
James Wade vs Krzysztof Ratajski (A)
Rob Cross vs Martijn Kleermaker (G)
Dave Chisnall vs Stephen Bunting (E)
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Gary Anderson (C)
Luke Humphries vs Steve Lennon (C)
Peter Wright vs Stowe Buntz (E)
Michael van Gerwen vs Fallon Sherrock (G)
Michael Smith vs Nathan Girvan (A)
Watch the 17th staging of the Grand Slam of Darts from 11-19 November at the Aldersley Leisure Village. Stream your favourite sports and more with NOW