Gary Anderson (darts player)
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2011) |
| Gary Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Nickname | The Flying Scotsman |
| Born | 22 December 1970 Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, Scotland |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 2000 |
| Darts |
24g Unicorn premier maestro tungsten Gary Anderson / Gary Anderson Unicorn Maestro Darts |
| Laterality | Right-handed |
| Walk-on music | Jump Around by House of Pain |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 2000–2009 |
| PDC | 2009– |
| Current world ranking | 13 |
| BDO majors - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Semi-final: 2003 |
| World Masters | Quarter-final: 2003, 2005 |
| World Darts Trophy | Winner: 2007 |
| Int. Darts League | Winner: 2007 |
| Zuiderduin Masters | Winner: 2007, 2008 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Runner up: 2011 |
| World Matchplay | Last 16: 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| World Grand Prix | Quarter-final: 2010 |
| Grand Slam | Runner up: 2011 |
| Premier League | Winner: 2011 |
| Ch'ship League | Winners group, 6th: 2011 |
| Desert Classic | Quarter-final: 2009 |
| European Ch'ship | Quarter-final: 2009 |
| UK Open | Runner up: 2010 |
| Players Ch'ship Finals | Runner up: 2011 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| BDO Gold Cup BDO International Grand Prix British Classic British Open Denmark Open Forth Valley Masters German Open Granite City Open Gleneagle Irish Masters Isle of Man Open Killarney Pro Tour Northern Ireland Open Scottish Masters Scottish Open Swiss Open WDF World Rankings Welsh Open Players Championships Players Ch'ship (BAR) Players Ch'ship (CRA) Players Ch'ship (DER) Players Ch'ship (HOL) Players Ch'ship (LAV) Players Ch'ship (WAL) UK Open Qualifier |
2006 2008 2006 2007 2004 2008 2004, 2006, 2008 2004, 2008 2012 2006 2010 2003, 2007 2003, 2006 2007 2006 2007 2001, 2008 2010 2011 2011 2011, 2011, 2011 2010 2009 2010, 2011, 2011 |
| Other achievements | |
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2005 Nine dart finish (non-televised) at the Gold Cup 2005. |
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Updated on 9 June 2012. |
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Gary Anderson (born 22 December 1970) is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman. During his time in the BDO, he was known as Dreamboy, a nickname that Anderson admits to having always hated.[3]
He is renowned for his heavy scoring in the game,[4] and has been touted as a future world champion. He is also known for having one of the best, most smooth throws in the game. However, he is perhaps best known for beating Phil Taylor in the final of the World Darts Trophy in 2007, reaching the final of the PDC World Championship in 2011, and winning the Premier League in 2011.
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Early career [edit]
Anderson began his career playing in the BDO events and made his breakthrough by winning the 2001 Welsh Open.[5] The win ensured he qualified for the following year's World Championship for the first time, where he suffered a first round defeat to Sweden's Stefan Nagy, going down 0–3.[6] The following year Anderson reached the semi-final stage before bowing out to losing Welsh finalist Ritchie Davies.[7]
Anderson would not win another match at the Lakeside Country Club, however, until 2006, when he beat Gary Robson in the first round before again falling to the eventual finalist this time in Raymond van Barneveld in the second round. In the following two years, Anderson was knocked out of the World Championship in the first round by Dutch players - in 2007, he lost to Albertino Essers,[8] and in 2008, he was defeated by Fabian Roosenbrand.[9]
Major successes and PDC switch [edit]
Anderson won both the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy titles in 2007.[5] It was a significant achievement as he succeeded against fields comprising the top players and world champions from both the rival organisations: the PDC and BDO. In the two events, he had victories against Wayne Mardle, Roland Scholten, Mervyn King, James Wade, Adrian Lewis, Mark Webster, John Part, Peter Manley, Andy Hamilton and Phil Taylor.[10][11]
Shortly after his WDT title, his success continued by clinching the BDO British Open to add to his 2007 Scottish Open success. Anderson also won the Zuiderduin Masters two years in a row - the first of which was an unranked event, the second was the first championship since the tournament was elevated to the status of ranking major.
In 2008, Anderson won the German Open and the Welsh Open titles. After losing to Tony O'Shea in the quarter-finals of the 2009 BDO World Darts Championship, Anderson threw his darts into the lake near the Lakeside Country Club.[12]
After months of speculation, Anderson joined the PDC in early 2009. He made his PDC televised debut in an exhibition match at the Premier League Darts meeting in Cardiff, defeating John Part with a three-dart average of 107.
He then qualified for the 2009 UK Open at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. Anderson went out in the second round to Paul Nicholson losing 6-4.
On his PDC World Championship debut in 2010, Anderson defeated Jamie Caven 3-2 in the first round before losing 4-0 against Ronnie Baxter in the second round.
2010 [edit]
In June 2010, Anderson reached his first ever PDC major final at the UK Open. He defeated Michael van Gerwen, Paul Nicholson, Mervyn King (who hit a nine-dart finish against Anderson), Andy Hamilton, and Tony Ayres before losing to Phil Taylor in the final 5–11.
At the 2010 World Matchplay he produced the first whitewash for six years with a 10–0 thumping of fellow Scot Robert Thornton during their first round encounter. His second round encounter was against Jelle Klaasen, with Klaasen winning 15–13.
Anderson qualified for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, and went into the tournament as the number six seed. Anderson defeated Mark Hylton, Mark Webster and Wayne Jones in the group stage to finish top of his group. In the second round he defeated Colin Osborne 10–3 to again play Jones in the quarter finals. Anderson led 15–12 before Jones took the last four legs to win the match 16–15.
Anderson represented Scotland along with Robert Thornton for the inaugural PDC World Cup of Darts in 2010 PDC World Cup of Darts. They entered the tournament in the second round as 4th seeds and beat Russia, paired by Anastasia Dobromyslova and Roman Konchikov, 6–2 to advance to the group stage, where they lost their opening group game to Wales pairing Mark Webster and Barrie Bates. Having recovered to secure victory against Bill Davis and Darin Young of the United States, Anderson and Thornton went out after defeat to Spain's Carlos Rodriguez and Antonio Alcinas.
2011 [edit]
Anderson qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship as the number 11 seed and in the first round played Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto, who defeated Matt Padgett earlier that night in a preliminary match. Anderson won 3-0 in sets, taking all nine legs without reply, with a 66% success rate on the doubles and the highest tournament average at the time of 103.23. In the second round he faced two-time world champion Dennis Priestley, winning 4 sets to 2. He then defeated Andy Smith in the third round, van Barneveld in the quarter-finals, and Terry Jenkins in the semi-finals to ensure his place in the 2011 final against Adrian Lewis. Anderson was defeated 7-5 by Lewis, who also hit a nine-dart finish during the first set of the match. Despite the loss, Anderson's run ensured him a place in the 2011 Premier League.
Anderson was the number 2 seed for the 2011 Players Championship Finals, and reached his second successive major final, where he played Phil Taylor. Anderson had led 11-9 in the final but Taylor checked out 128 in a deciding leg to win 13-12.[13]
Anderson had automatically qualified for the 2011 Premier League after rising to number 4 in the world after his performances in recent tournaments. He got off to a winning start by beating Simon Whitlock 8-5 on the opening night at the O2 Arena. He went on to win his first four Premier League games before losing to Phil Taylor in week five. Anderson finished the group stage in third place and played Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-final, winning 8-6. Anderson then defeated Adrian Lewis (who had beaten Taylor 8-3 in the other semi-final) 10-4 to win his first major championship in the PDC, his fourth in total, and his first in the UK having had his previous successes in Holland.
After his Premier League success Anderson's form began to descend. He suffered quick exits in some of the PDC's premier events. During the fourth night of the World Matchplay he was beaten in his second round match against Andy Hamilton, then the same fate happened once again during the European Championship, this time he was beaten by Peter Wright.
He won Pro Tour events in Crawley, Nuland and Derby.
In the first round of the World Grand Prix he faced Richie Burnett and lost 2-1 in sets.
Anderson reached the final of the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts, but was beaten 16-4 in legs by Phil Taylor.
He was named as the Best PDC ProTour Player, having won seven Players Championships and UK Open Qualifiers during 2011 to claim £62,400 prize money in non-televised tournaments.[1]
2012 [edit]
Anderson survived a huge scare in the first round of the 2012 World Championship as his opponent Jyhan Artut had four darts to win the match. He missed and Anderson won the match 3-2 on a sudden-death leg.[14] He used his lucky escape to his advantage by defeating Devon Petersen and Colin Lloyd, 4-2 and 4-1 respectively, to set up a quarter-final clash with Simon Whitlock.[15] He won the first set of the match, but missed a total of 29 darts at a double and lost 1-5.[16] He played in his second World Cup for Scotland in February, this time with Peter Wright and together they were beaten by South Africa in the second round, losing in a sudden-death leg.[17]
Anderson had a disappointing defence of his Premier League title. He finished bottom of the league table having won just three matches from the 14 game season.[18] In winning the event in 2011 he made a total of 79 180's,[19] but could only manage 31 this year, the least of any of the eight players.[20] However, in the last league game Anderson did have an encouraging 7–7 draw with Phil Taylor.[18]
In June, he completed his first live televised nine-dart finish in a 9–3 third round win over Davey Dodds at the UK Open.[2] He lost in the next round to compatriot, and eventual winner of the event, Robert Thornton 7–9.[21] He was then forced to take a month away from the sport due to problems focusing with his left eye, returning to play in the World Matchplay.[22] There he played Dean Winstanley in the first round and, despite leading 5–0, lost the match 11–13.[23] Anderson was banned by the Darts Regulation Authority for two European Tour events and the European Championship due to "him failing to complete his match and his subsequent behaviour" at the European Tour Event 2.[24] In October, he lost in the final of the 14th Players Championship of the year, 5–6 to Robert Thornton in an all Scottish final.[25] Anderson then won the non-ranking Irish Masters by beating Colin Osborne 6–1 in the final.[26] He finished second in Group F of the Grand Slam of Darts to qualify for the last 16, where he faced Andy Hamilton.[27] Despite averaging almost 102, Anderson lost 9–10 in a thrilling match.[28] After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Anderson was 26th on the Order of Merit, inside the top 32 who qualified for the Players Championship Finals.[29] He saw off Wes Newton and Robert Thornton, but was then beaten 8–10 by Simon Whitlock in the quarter-finals.[30]
2013 [edit]
Anderson survived three match darts versus John Bowles in the second round of the 2013 World Championship to win in a deciding set,[31] but was then comfortably beaten by Raymond van Barneveld 0–4 in 33 minutes as he missed a total of 23 darts at doubles.[32] Because the ranking system works as a two year rolling list based on prize money earned, Anderson lost the £100,000 from reaching the 2011 World Championship final and dropped to world number 11 after the tournament.[33] Anderson partnered Robert Thornton for the third time at the World Cup of Darts and they were shocked by Spain 4–5 in the last 16.[34] He threw a nine-dart finish in the third UK Open Qualifier during a first round win over Josh Payne, but lost in the following round 5–6 to Michael van Gerwen.[35]
He qualified for the 2013 Premier League by virtue of being the 2011 champion.[36] In the first eight matches he could only beat Phil Taylor and Simon Whitlock and went into the ninth week knowing he had to beat James Wade to have any chance of avoiding being one of the two relegated players from the 10-man league.[37][38] Anderson lost 3–7 to Wade and stated afterwards that he has struggled with his game for the last year.[39]
Personal life [edit]
Anderson lives in Rooks Bridge, Somerset, with his partner Rachel, where they run the Wellington Arms, a local pub. He has two sons Ryan (born 1995) and Joel (born 1999) who live with his ex-wife Rosemary in Berwick.[40] Gary's brother Stewart died from a heart attack in September 2011, at the age of 35. Shortly after his brother's death, Anderson defeated Mark Dudbridge 6-0 in a PDC Pro Tour event in Derby, averaging 123.5 - the highest three-dart average in PDC history.[41] Anderson's father died in March 2012.[42]
Outside of darts [edit]
In 2012, Anderson, together with the seven other players who competed in the Premier League recorded a charity single with Chas Hodges and his band called 'Got My Tickets For The Darts' which was written by Chas. It was released on 18 May, the night after the play-offs at the O2 in London, where it was premiered. Proceeds from the single will be donated to the Haven House Children's Hospice.[43]
World Championship results [edit]
BDO [edit]
- 2002 - 1st round lost to Stefan Nagy 0–3
- 2003 - Semi-finals lost to Ritchie Davies 2–5
- 2004 - 1st round lost to Tony O'Shea 0–3
- 2005 - 1st round lost to Raymond van Barneveld 0–3
- 2006 - 2nd round lost to Raymond van Barneveld 1–4
- 2007 - 1st round lost to Albertino Essers 1–3
- 2008 - 1st round lost to Fabian Roosenbrand 2–3
- 2009 - Quarter-finals lost to Tony O'Shea 3–5
PDC [edit]
- 2010 - 2nd round lost to Ronnie Baxter 0–4
- 2011 - Runner-up lost to Adrian Lewis 5–7
- 2012 - Quarter-finals lost to Simon Whitlock 1–5
- 2013 - 3rd round lost to Raymond van Barneveld 0–4
Tournament finals [edit]
PDC premier event finals: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups) [edit]
BDO Majors (2) [edit]
PDC performance timeline [edit]
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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