Gary Anderson (born 22 December 1970) is a Scottish professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

player, currently playing in the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

(PDC). He is a former BDO and WDF world number one, and a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2015 and 2016. His nickname is "The Flying Scotsman", after a famous Scottish steam train. Anderson is renowned for his heavy scoring in the game and having one of the smoothest throws.Darts Psychology: Gary Anderson - The First Round!
The Martin Effect; Retrieved 27 December 2010Arthur McKay hits the bullseye with the Flying Scotsman
Arthur McKay; Retrieved 6 January 2015 Anderson is a two-time back-to-back PDC World Champion, defeating Phil Taylor 7–6 in the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

final and

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

7–5 in

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, while he was also a finalist in

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

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. His other career highlights include winning the

International Darts League The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held. Gary Anders ...

in 2007, the

World Darts Trophy The Bullit World Darts Trophy was a professional darts tournament run by the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Federation. Held each September from 2002 to 2007, it took place at the De Vechtsebanen in Utrecht, Netherlands. The tou ...

in 2007, the

Zuiderduin Masters The Finder Darts Masters was a darts tournament held in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands, sanctioned by the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Federation, running intermittently under several different names from 1995 to 2018. The tourn ...

in 2007 and

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, the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and

, the

Players Championship Finals The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes int ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, the

UK Open The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, World Matchplay in

, the

Champions League of Darts The Champions League of Darts, also known as the Paddy Power Champions League of Darts for sponsorship purposes, was an annual non-ranking darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. Featuring just the top eight players in t ...

and the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts. He has also won 31

PDC Pro Tour The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

events as of February 2020, putting him third on the all-time list behind

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

on 75 and Phil Taylor on 70.

Career

Early career

Born in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

, Anderson began his career playing in

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

events and won the second tournament he entered by claiming the 2001 Welsh Open with a defeat of John Walton. The win ensured he qualified for the following year's

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for the first time, where he suffered a first round defeat to Sweden's

Stefan Nagy Stefan Nagy (31 July 1951 – 23 June 2016) was a former Swedish darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation events. Career At the 1992 BDO World Darts Championship he was defeated 3–0 by Rod Harrington in the first round. 2002 ...

, going down 3–0. The following year, in the 2003 BDO World Darts Championship Anderson reached the semi-final stage before bowing out to eventual runner-up

Ritchie Davies Ritchie Davies (born 27 November 1971) is a Welsh former professional darts player from Aberdare. He is best known for his run at the 2003 BDO World Darts Championship, where he reached the final. Career Davies made his World Championship debu ...

. Anderson would not win another match at the Lakeside Country Club until

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, when he beat Gary Robson in the first round before again falling to the eventual finalist this time in

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

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 Albertino Essers (born 30 May 1969) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Sensation, he competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Career In the 2007 BDO World Darts Championship, Essers defeated the number 2 seed ...

, and in

, he was defeated by

Fabian Roosenbrand Fabian Roosenbrand (born 18 December 1988 in Almelo) is a Dutch professional darts player, who currently resides in Enschede. He is not a full-time professional player, and currently makes his living as a painter. Career He won two Open events ...

Major successes and PDC switch

Anderson won the first major tournaments of his career by claiming the

and

back-to-back in 2007. It was a significant achievement as he succeeded against fields comprising the top players and world champions from both the rival organisations: the

and BDO. In the two events, he had victories against

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...

, Roland Scholten, Mervyn King,

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

, Mark Webster,

John Part John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...

Peter Manley Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twic ...

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

and Phil Taylor. Shortly after his WDT title, his success continued by clinching the

BDO British Open The British Open is one of the longest-running darts events, having started just a few months after the first ever Winmau World Masters. The tournament used to be televised by the BBC from its inception, but it ceased to cover the event after 1983 ...

to add to his 2007 Scottish Open success. Anderson also won the

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. Anderson finished 2007 as the WDF world number 1, while he later ended 2008 as the WDF world number 2 behind

Scott Waites Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...

WDF WORLD RANKING SYSTEMS: ROLL OF HONOUR (1984-2008)
World Darts Federation (WDF). Retrieved 6 January 2005.WDF WORLD RANKING SYSTEMS: ROLL OF HONOUR (1984 to 2008)
World Darts Federation (WDF). Retrieved 25 January 2005. In 2008, Anderson won the German Open, Welsh Open and BDO International Grand Prix titles. He also won the Dutch Pentathlon in 2008,The 3rd Dutch Pentathlon (DP) 2009
Dartshop Kattestaart. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2015. retaining the title in 2009, with a world record score of 502 points.Van der Voort champion, world record Anderson
May 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2015. Between 2000 and 2008, Anderson represented Scotland at three

WDF World Cup The WDF World Cup is a major darts tournament organized by the World Darts Federation and has been held biennially since 1977. The tournament has featured men's events since the beginning, while women's events were added in 1983 and youth events in ...

s, four

WDF Europe Cup The WDF Europe Cup is a darts tournament held biennially since 1978. The tournament consists of a team championship, a pairs championship and a singles championship. All events have a men's competition, and a women's competition (since 1982). Tou ...

s, and five

Six Nations Cup The Six Nations Cup is an international darts team competition currently organised by the English Darts Organisation (EDO),Six Nations Cup
Global Darts. Retrieved 25 January 2015.Six Nations Cup
Darts 1. Retrieved 7 January 2015. as well as winning the WDF Europe Cup four-man and overall team titles in 2002.WDF Europe Cup Roll of Honour
World Darts Federation (WDF) Retrieved 25 January 2015. In total, Anderson played thirty-two matches for Scotland, winning twenty-two of them. 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 Premier League Darts is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament ori ...

meeting in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, after

had withdrawn with illness, and defeated

with a three-dart average of 107. He then qualified for the

2009 UK Open The 2009 Blue Square UK Open was the seventh year of the PDC darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was ...

at the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, losing in the second round 6–4 to Paul Nicholson. On his PDC World Championship debut in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Anderson defeated

Jamie Caven Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976) is an English former professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He has won seven events on the PDC Pro Tour, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was ...

3–2 in the first round before losing 4–0 against

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

in the second round.

2010

In June 2010, Anderson reached his first ever PDC major final at the

. He defeated

, Paul Nicholson, Mervyn King (who hit a nine-dart finish against Anderson), Andy Hamilton, and

Tony Ayres Tony Ayres (born 16 July 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, director in television and feature film. He is most notable for his films '' Walking on Water'' and '' The Home Song Stories'', as well his work in television, includi ...

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 Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the ...

, with Klaasen winning 14–12. 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 Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won tw ...

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 The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, paired by

Anastasia Dobromyslova Anastasia Petrovna Dobromyslova-Martin (russian: Анастаси́я Петро́вна Добромы́слова; born 26 September 1984) is a professional darts player. She is a three-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the B ...

and Roman Konchikov, 6–2 to advance to the group stage, where they lost their opening group game to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

pairing Mark Webster and

Barrie Bates Barrie Bates (born 17 October 1969) is a former Welsh darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007, he was known as Champagne. Career Bates made his PDC televised ...

. Having recovered to secure victory against

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

and

Darin Young Darin may refer to Places *Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran *Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran *Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran *Darin, Yazd, a villa ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Anderson and Thornton went out after defeat to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

's Carlos Rodriguez and

Antonio Alcinas Antonio Alcinas Estelrich (born 7 April 1979) is a Spanish darts player playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Alcinas started competing in PDC Europe events in 2010. After reaching the quarter-finals of a Players Champ ...

2011

Anderson qualified for the 2011 World Championship as the number 11 seed and in the first round played

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Morihiro Hashimoto (10 February 1977 – 13 March 2017) was a Japanese darts player, nicknamed The Ogre. Career Hashimoto first appeared in the PDC circuit competing in the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic qualifiers, as well as a Players Championship. He attempt ...

. Anderson won 3–0 in sets, taking all nine legs without reply, with an average of 103.23. In the second round he faced two-time world champion

Dennis Priestley Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English former professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is ...

, winning 4 sets to 2. He then defeated Andy Smith in the third round (whilst setting his highest World Championship average of 108.39),

in the quarter-finals, and

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

in the semi-finals to ensure his place in the final against

. 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 as he had moved into the top four on the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

. Anderson was the number two seed for the 2011 Players Championship Finals, and reached his second successive major final, where he played Phil Taylor. Anderson led 11–9, but Taylor checked out 128 in the deciding leg to win 13–12. In the Premier League he got off to a winning start by beating

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname ...

8–5 on the opening night at the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decem ...

. He went on to win his first four games before losing to Taylor in week five. Anderson finished the group stage in third place and played Van Barneveld in the semi-finals, winning 8–6. In a repeat of the World Championship final he played Lewis (who had beaten Taylor 8–3 in the other semi-final) and beat him 10–4 to win his first major championship in the PDC, his third in total, and his first in the UK having had his previous successes in the Netherlands. In the World Matchplay he was beaten 10–6 in his first round match against

, and he lost in the second round of the European Championship 10–5 to Peter Wright. Away from the television cameras on the

he won four Players Championships during the year including both during the same weekend in

Nuland Nuland is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located about 8 km (5 mi) east of 's-Hertogenbosch. Nuland was a separate municipality until 1993 when it merged with Geffen and Vinkel to create the new municipality ...

. In the first round of the World Grand Prix he faced

Richie Burnett Richard Mark "Richie" Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Cha ...

and lost 2–1 in sets. Anderson qualified from

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

of the

Grand Slam of Darts The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...

and then won through to the final where he met Taylor and was comfortably beaten 16–4. Anderson holds the record for the highest ever three dart average in darts history in an official tournament with a 133.35 average in a 6–1 win against

Arron Monk Arron Monk (born 15 April 1990) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the son of fellow former professional darts player and the 1996 Winmau World Masters winner Colin Monk. ...

in a UK Open Qualifier during 2011.

2012

Anderson survived a huge scare in the first round of the 2012 World Championship as his opponent

Jyhan Artut Jyhan Artut (born 9 October 1976) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Artut defeated Wayne Mardle 3–0 in the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship in the first round. He was ...

had four darts to win the match. He missed and Anderson won the match 3–2 on a sudden-death leg. He used his lucky escape to his advantage by defeating

Devon Petersen Devon Petersen (born 4 June 1986) is a South African professional darts player and a pundit for Sky Sports. He has qualified for the PDC World Championship on seven occasions with his best result coming in 2014, 2019 and 2021 when he reached th ...

and Colin Lloyd, 4–2 and 4–1 respectively, to set up a quarter-final clash with

. He won the first set of the match, but missed a total of 29 darts at a double and lost 1–5. He played in his second

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

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. Anderson had a disappointing defence of his

title. He finished bottom of the league table having won just three matches from the 14-game season. In winning the event in 2011 he made a total of 79 180's, but could only manage 31 this year, the least of any of the eight players. However, in the last league game Anderson did have an encouraging 7–7 draw with Phil Taylor. In June, he completed his first live televised nine-dart finish in a 9–3 third round win over Davey Dodds at the

. He lost in the next round to compatriot, and eventual winner of the event, Robert Thornton 7–9. 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. There he played

Dean Winstanley Dean Winstanley (born 10 February 1981) is an English professional darts player. He first took up darts as a two-year-old, stopped playing at the age of 12, and then started playing again when he was 22. He turned professional in 2008 and won ...

in the first round and, despite leading 5–0, lost the match 11–13. 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. 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. Anderson then won the non-ranking Irish Masters by beating

6–1 in the final. He finished second in Group F of the

to qualify for the last 16, where he faced

. Despite averaging almost 102, Anderson lost 9–10 in a thrilling match. 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

. He saw off

Wes Newton Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player. Darts career Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...

and Robert Thornton, but was then beaten 8–10 by

in the quarter-finals. During the 2012 season, Anderson, together with the seven other players who competed in the

recorded a charity single with

Chas Hodges Charles Nicholas Hodges (28 December 1943 – 22 September 2018) was an English musician and singer who was the lead vocalist of musical duo Chas & Dave. Early life Hodges was born at the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton on 2 ...

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 were donated to the Haven House Children's Hospice.

2013

Anderson survived three match darts versus John Bowles in the second round of the 2013 World Championship to win in a deciding set, but was then comfortably beaten by

0–4 in 33 minutes as he missed a total of 23 darts at doubles. 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. Anderson partnered Robert Thornton for the third time at the

World Cup of Darts The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

. He qualified for the 2013 Premier League by virtue of being the 2011 champion. In the first eight matches he could only beat Phil Taylor and

and went into the ninth week knowing he had to beat

to have any chance of avoiding being one of the two relegated players from the 10-man league. Anderson lost 3–7 to Wade and stated afterwards that he has struggled with his game for the last year. At the

he led

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English retired darts player, known as "The Artist". He is arguably most famous for finishing as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2004 PDC World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the ...

7–3 in the fourth round, but then lost six consecutive legs to exit the tournament 7–9. Anderson showed his best darts in the first round of the World Grand Prix as he averaged 104.86 in the double start event during a two sets to nil 10-minute defeat of

. He then edged past

3–2 before meeting Phil Taylor in top form in the quarter-finals who beat Anderson 3–0. At the

, Anderson produced two superb performances in the group stage as he averaged 107.14 and 111.80 in defeats of

Wesley Harms Wesley Harms (born 11 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Career Harms won the BDO International Open in 2011, defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. Harms qualified for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 13t ...

and Peter Wright. He lost his other game to

to finish second in the group and play Taylor in the last 16. Anderson again posted an impressive average of 106.13 (almost four points ahead of Taylor's), but from 4–4 was unable to capitalise on the chances his scoring set up and lost 10–5. Anderson's second major quarter-final of the year came at the

where he lost 9–7 to

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a former top 10 player. Playing career Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunc ...

2014

Anderson comfortably beat

Mark Dudbridge Mark "Flash" Dudbridge (born 11 January 1973) is an English professional darts player. He appeared in the 2005 Premier League Darts after reaching the final of the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship. He also is a former World Master and has r ...

and

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

in the 2014 World Championship to face

in the third round. He took advantage of a sluggish start from Van Gerwen to establish a 3–1 lead and also missed two darts to win the set he lost. However, Anderson's usual scoring power deserted him as he lost three sets in a row to exit the tournament. Anderson bemoaned the fact that he had been playing consistently well over the previous months but kept losing games he should win through silly mistakes. He then began the year by claiming his first ranking title in two and a half years at the

German Darts Championship The German Darts Championship is a Professional Darts Corporation event that takes place in Germany as part of the PDC European Tour. Since 2013, it has been held at Halle 39 in Hildesheim, after previously being held in Berlin Berlin ( , ) ...

. Anderson recovered from 5–3 down to

in the final to win 6–5, surviving six match darts from his opponent in the process and said afterwards his goal for the year was to reclaim his ranking in the top eight. His good start to the year continued as he won the fifth UK Open Qualifier with a 6–2 defeat of Robert Thornton. At the

itself he lost 9–7 to Ian White in the fifth round. Anderson's third title of the year came at the first Players Championship as he averaged 111.47 in beating

Andrew Gilding Andrew Gilding (born 7 December 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He made his television debut in 2011. Gilding's best result at a PDC major event was reaching the sem ...

6–5 in a high quality final. Another tournament victory came a week later at the third event by edging out Phil Taylor 6–5, with Anderson describing afterwards that winning has become a habit again. Anderson received a

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

wildcard to participate in the

this year. He had a fantastic second half of the season to win five of his last seven matches, drawing the other two, to finish fourth in the

table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

and qualify for the play-offs. Anderson played Van Gerwen in the semi-finals against whom he lost to 7–5 and beat 7–4 during the league stage. There was never more than a leg between the players throughout the whole match with Van Gerwen throwing for it in the deciding leg. He kicked off with a 171 and Anderson could only reply with 17 and went on to lose 8–7. With doubling so often the weakness in Anderson's game, he managed to hit 43% during the whole season this year, the third highest out of the ten players. In June he won his fifth title of the season at the 11th Players Championship with a 6–2 defeat of Thornton. At the World Matchplay, Anderson beat

10–8 and

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former Wor ...

13–8 (whilst averaging 104.41) to progress past the second round for the first time in his sixth appearance in the event. In the quarter-finals he outplayed

in winning 13–8 and was then involved in a high quality match against Phil Taylor in the semi-finals as both players averaged 105 which Anderson just lost 17–15. Anderson stated that the quality of his darts was beginning to scare other players again and his successful week took him back into the world's top 10. In September he averaged 115.62 in thrashing Lewis 6–0 in the semi-finals of the 13th Players Championship and then fought back from 5–3 down in the final against

to take the title 6–5. He also reached the final of the 16th event but lost 6–2 against

. Anderson's successful season in the floor events concluded at the final Players Championship where he sealed the title by throwing a 10 dart leg to edge Peter Wright 6–5. He finished the season top of the Pro Tour Order of Merit and was therefore the number one seed for the

, something Anderson said he had worked his heart out all year to achieve. He produced his very highest standard throughout the event beginning with a 6–5 win over

Christian Kist Christian Kist (born 21 April 1986) is a Dutch professional darts player. In 2012, he won the BDO World Darts Championship, defeating Tony O'Shea in the final. Since 2014, he has competed in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career BDO K ...

with an average of 110.62. In the quarter-finals he beat Taylor for the first time since 2007 in a televised knockout match and then eliminated

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch professional darts player on the PDC circuit. As of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, his nickname is the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is bes ...

11–7 and Lewis 11–6 in the final. It was Anderson's fourth major title and he ended the tournament with an overall average of 104.72.

2015

World Championship win

Anderson seemed to become frustrated with his first round opponent

Scott Kirchner Darren Scott "Scotty" Kirchner (born August 27, 1969) is a former American professional darts player who competed in the Professional Darts Corporation tournaments. Career Kirchner's first tournament win came at the 2002 Soft Tip Bullshooter Wo ...

's playing style at the 2015 World Championship. Kirchner threw an imaginary dart before every visit to the board and Anderson struggled to a 3–1 win averaging 86.20. A much higher quality match followed against the fast throwing

in which Anderson recovered from 3–1 down to win 4–3, taking out a crucial 84 finish on the bull in the fifth set with Klaasen waiting on 89 for the match. Both players averaged over 100 with 20 180s thrown. More comfortable victories followed over

Cristo Reyes Cristo Reyes Torres (born 30 July 1987) is a Spanish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career In October 2014, Reyes bested a field of 154 players to win the Iberian Qualifier for the 2015 PDC World Champi ...

(averaged 104.54) and last year's finalist Peter Wright (averaged 102.12) to set up a semi-final tie with

. Just like their meeting in the third round of 2014's event, Van Gerwen recovered from a 3–1 deficit to level at 3–3. However, he would miss four darts to gain a set lead for the first time in the match, with Anderson going on to take it 6–3. He finished with a checkout rate of 50% and averaged over 100 for the fourth game in a row. Anderson held an early 3–1 advantage over Phil Taylor in the final, before the 16-time world champion won nine of the next ten legs to move 4–3 ahead. Taylor then missed three darts to take the next set, allowing Anderson to tie the scores at 4–4. In Anderson's first visit to the board at the beginning of the ninth set he hit two treble 20s, but his third dart knocked them out of the bed to score nothing. He lost the leg and became distracted by a member of the audience shouting out to be two legs down, before punishing more missed darts from Taylor to claim the set. Anderson stood one set away from the title when he made it 6–4, but Taylor quickly recovered to send the match into a deciding set. Taylor had three darts to hold his throw in the second leg, but could not find the target as Anderson took the final set without reply to win his first World Championship 7–6. The match broke the record for 180s in a PDC final with 32, beating the 31 thrown during the 2007 final. Anderson's total 180s during the whole tournament of 64 was also a record. The title saw him climb to world number three, his highest position to date. Later in the month he was crowned the PDC Player of the Year, Pro Tour Player of the Year, Fans' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year at the annual awards dinner.2015 PDC Awards - Anderson's Quartet!
PDC. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.Four-Some Anderson's Awards Success
PDC. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.

Rest of season

At the Masters, following wins over

, 10–2, and

, 10–5, in which Anderson averaged 121 in the first five legs, he lost 11–6 to

in the semi-finals. Anderson began his

campaign with a 7–5 win over Phil Taylor. He was beaten 6–2 in the final of the

. From 8–4 ahead of Mervyn King in the third round of the

, Anderson missed a total of 13 match darts to be defeated 9–8. In week six of the Premier League, Anderson secured a superb 7–1 win over

, with a 109 average, and continued his form into that weekend by beating

6–5 to win the first Players Championship event of the year. On his first competitive return to Scotland as world champion, Anderson overcame

Kim Huybrechts Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13 ...

7–5 in week seven of the Premier League. He missed double 12 for a nine darter in the last leg. After a 6–6 draw in week nine with Van Barneveld, with a 108 average, Anderson sat third in the Premier League table, with the first round of fixtures completed, and a total of six wins, one draw and 13 points from his first nine matches. After three defeats in his next five matches, Anderson secured his place in the Premier League play-offs with another 7–5 defeat of Phil Taylor in week 14. He finished the regular Premier League season beating Adrian Lewis 7–3 to finish in third. Anderson recorded nine wins, two draws and 20 points from 16 games. He lost 6–4 to Phil Taylor in the final of the ninth Players Championship. Anderson rallied from 7–4 down to

Dave Chisnall Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Champion ...

in the Premier League semi-finals to send the match into a deciding leg in which Chisnall missed three match darts, allowing Anderson to take out a 116 finish to beat him 10–9. Anderson defeated Van Gerwen 11–7 in the final to claim the second Premier League title of his career. He became the second player after Phil Taylor win to the World Championship and Premier League in the same year. Anderson made his World Series of Darts debut at the Dubai Masters, but lost to Phil Taylor at the semi-final stage. Anderson and Peter Wright teamed up at the

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

10–4 in the first round before a surprise 13–9 second round defeat to

Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (B ...

, which ended his bid for the Triple Crown. Following the completion of the tournament, Anderson became the world number two for the first time in his career. He won his second Players Championship of the year at the final event by seeing off

6–2. In the final of the European Championship, Anderson held a 10–7 advantage over Van Gerwen, but lost four legs in a row without getting a dart for the title as he was beaten 11–10. He averaged 104.22 against Mark Webster in the second round of the

, but the Welshman took out 71% of his shots at doubles to defeat Anderson 10–6 and he lost in the same stage of the

10–4 to

Daryl Gurney Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...

2016

300px, Anderson in 2016

Second World Championship title

In the defence of his title, Anderson reached the final of the 2016 World Championship without facing any troubles following wins over

Andy Boulton Andy Boulton (born 22 February 1973) is a Scottish professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is nicknamed X-Factor. Career Boulton made his televised debut in the PDC UK Open in 2005 startin ...

and

with the loss of just two sets. In the semi-finals, he won 6–0 over

with a 107 average and threw a nine-dart finish in the opening set. He played

in a rematch of the 2011 final and hit a 170 finish in the penultimate leg, before hitting double 12 (the same double which he hit to win his first World Championship) to retain his title with a 7–5 win, a reversal of the scoreline from five years ago. 34 180s were thrown which is a record in a professional match. Anderson became the 11th player to win more than one World Championship and joined

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

and Lewis in being the only players to have successfully defended their first world title.

Rest of season

Anderson took the fourth UK Open Qualifier with a 6–1 victory over

, but at the

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

suffered a huge surprise fourth round loss as amateur Barry Lynn won 9–3. He finished third in the

to qualify for the semi-finals and rallied from 8–4 down against Phil Taylor to trail by one leg, but would be beaten 10–7. Anderson had an exceptional year in the invitational World Series events as he claimed the Dubai Masters, Auckland Darts Masters and Tokyo Darts Masters. He reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay for the second time, but lost 17–8 to Taylor. Anderson's second Pro Tour title of 2016 was the 12th Players Championship which he won by edging out

6–5. Anderson's first major final after the World Championship came at the World Grand Prix which he got to without dropping more than one set against

, Kyle Anderson,

and

. However, he was powerless to stop

from capturing the title with a 5–2 win. Anderson was whitewashed 6–0 by Wade in the first round of the European Championship, averaging just 77.40. In his next event, the

World Series of Darts Finals The World Series of Darts Finals is a non-ranking darts tournament held by the Professional Darts Corporation. It is classed as a PDC premier event. The tournament was held annually in November, but in 2020, it moved to September, and moved to O ...

, Anderson wore glasses on stage for the first time. He said after going for an eye test he could not believe he had won two world title without being able to see properly and also explained that he has had to change his throw after his old one would knock his glasses off. He did lose 6–5 to Joe Cullen in his first match wearing them, but reached the semi-finals of the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

where he was defeated 16–14 by Wade.

2017

In his quarter-final match with

at the 2017 World Championship 33 180s were thrown, just one shy of the record. With the match tied at three sets apiece, Chisnall was ahead in the seventh set 2–0, but missed four darts to take it and Anderson would win 5–3. After Peter Wright equalised their semi-final at 3–3 after trailing 3–1, Anderson won nine of the next ten legs to reach the final for the third year in a row with a 6–3 victory. He was on a 17-game unbeaten streak at the event and missed two darts to take a 3–1 lead over

in the early stages of the final. Van Gerwen then won 12 of the next 14 legs in taking four sets in a row and, though Anderson pulled one back, his reign as world champion ended with a 7–3 loss. Anderson had not averaged over 100 in his two previous wins in the final, but averaged 104.93 in this defeat, as well as hitting 22 180s which is a record in a single match. The pair smashed the record for the most 180s in a match with 42 and Anderson's 71 for the entire tournament is also a record. Anderson and Van Gerwen also met in the final of the Masters, with Anderson losing 11–7. He was level at 7–7 with Van Gerwen in the semi-finals of the

, before being defeated 10–7. Anderson and Wright suffered a surprise first round 5–2 defeat to Singapore at the

2018

Anderson began his 2018 season with a loss to eventual runner-up Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Championship, failing to reach the finals for the first time in 4 years. With Rob Cross breaking into the top 3 in Order of Merit with his World Championship victory over Taylor, Anderson would play the 2018 season ranked 4th in the world. This would queue him up for a series of semi-finals matches against Michael van Gerwen, the first of which would be a 5–11 loss in the Masters. Anderson returned 2 weeks later to win the 4th UK Open Qualifier and enter the

as the 6th seed. Having not reached the final since his

loss to Taylor, Anderson reached the final for a second time to defeat

Corey Cadby Corey Patrick Cadby (born 18 March 1995) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was the 2016 World Youth champion. Career A native of Tasmania, Cadby began competing in Darts ...

11–7. Just a week later, Anderson followed up with back to back victories in Players Championships 3 and 4. In the 2018 Premier League, Anderson had an 8–5–3 (W–L–D) record to finish 3rd in the league table and reach the playoffs for the 5th year straight, but would fall to Michael Smith in the semi-final. Nevertheless, Anderson would turn around two days later to win his third Players Championship title of the year. Another two weeks later, Anderson would join Peter Wright for the fourth time to represent Scotland at the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. With the pair having only lost one set before the finals, they fell to the reigning champions, Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld of The Netherlands with MVG's 4–0 defeat of the Flying Scotsman. Anderson kicked off the second half of the year with an 8–4 victory over Rob Cross in the final of the US Darts Masters where he hit the tournament high checkout of 164 in the final leg. The following week, his World Series success would come to an end after a first round defeat in the Shanghai Darts Masters. His form was soon to return in the World Matchplay where he hit a £45,000 nine-dart finish against Joe Cullen in the quarter-finals. With a defeat over Cullen and

Jeffrey de Zwaan Jeffrey de Zwaan (born 26 March 1996) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career De Zwaan progressed through to the last 16 of the 2014 World Masters, where he lost 3–0 to Gle ...

, who had beaten other two-time world champions Michael van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis in the first two rounds, Anderson met

in the final. In the longest match in Matchplay history, Anderson defeated Suljović 21–19 in the best of 35 match with the stipulation that the game must be won by 2 clear legs. The tournament saw Anderson hit 52 180s, the most ever in a winning effort at the Matchplay, and second overall only to the 56 that Adrian Lewis hit in his

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

campaign that ended in defeat by Phil Taylor. After taking second in his group with victories over Michael van Gerwen and Dave Chisnall, but a loss to Daryl Gurney, Anderson would meet Suljović again in the semi-final of the 2018 Champions League of Darts. The Scotsman secured an 11–4 victory over the Austrian to avenge his defeat in the 2017 Final where the Austrian won 11–9. Anderson was quick to follow up with another 11–4 victory in the final against his fellow countryman Peter Wright to become the third champion in as many stagings of the tournament. A week later in the World Grand Prix, Anderson would again struggle when he fell to the reigning champion

for the second time in two weeks, with a 3–0 defeat in the quarter-finals. In November, Anderson went undefeated in the group stage of the

and met MVG in the semi-final having only lost 12 legs combined in the prior rounds. Anderson took the set 16–12 before meeting

Gerwyn Price Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...

in the final. After at one point leading the match 11–8, Anderson was visibly distracted by Price, and only won 2 of the next 10 legs, to lose 13–16 in the controversial final. The following week in the 2018 Players Championship Finals, Anderson once again met MVG in the semi-finals with each of them having only given up 9 legs in the tournament so far. This time around, Van Gerwen would get the advantage, winning 11–9 before losing to Daryl Gurney by the same margin in the final.

2019

Anderson entered the 2019 World Championship as the fourth seed and won his opening match against Kevin Burness 3–1. He led his third round match against

Jermaine Wattimena Jermaine Wattimena (born 9 March 1988) is a Dutch darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. Career Wattimena won the first event he entered as he claimed the 2008 Malta Open by beating Vincent Busuttil in t ...

3–1, before losing the next two sets, then had to survive match darts to take the game to a tie break before eventually prevailing 5–3 in the deciding set. In the fourth round, Anderson recovered from a 2–0 deficit to

Chris Dobey Chris Dobey (born 31 May 1990) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career His first major TV appearance came in the 2015 UK Open where he lost 5–1 in the first round to N ...

to win the final set in another tiebreaker with a score of 4–2 legs. In the quarter finals, Anderson appeared to have gotten his game back with a 5–2 victory over

and a 103.03 average, his first over 100 in the tournament. Anderson visibly struggled however in his semi-final match with

. The world number one put up a 104.76 average to Anderson's 97.98 to secure a 6–1 victory and only giving up 7 legs. Anderson had been struggling with back problems for a couple of years at this point, and took the decision to withdraw from the Masters at the start of February 2019 due to these issues. He then had to take the decision to also pull out of the

, meaning that he'd miss the tournament for the first time since 2010. However, Anderson stated that a specialist had found the problem with his back and that he hoped to be back in action within a couple of months after receiving treatment. On 25 February, it was announced that Anderson would make his yearly debut at the 2019 UK Open in March. Anderson, alongside teammate Peter Wright, won the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts, the first time Scotland had won the tournament.

2020

Anderson exited the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship in the fourth round, losing to

Nathan Aspinall Nathan Aspinall (born 15 July 1991) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2019 UK Open with a 170 checkout in the final leg against former World Champion Rob Cross. ...

. He returned to the

after a year away. Anderson won his first ranking title since the 2018 Matchplay at the first Players Championship event of 2020; beating Jeff Smith in the final. At the 2020 World Matchplay, Anderson made his first televised singles final since 2018, losing to

Dimitri Van den Bergh Dimitri Van den Bergh (born 8 July 1994) is a Belgian professional darts player who currently competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a two-time World Youth Champion and the 2020 World Matchplay champion, after beating Gar ...

2021

Anderson went into the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship as thirteenth seed; and dismissed his chances of a third world title after an opening win over

Madars Razma Madars Razma (born 26 September 1988) is a Latvian professional darts player nicknamed Latvian Razmatazz who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the Latvia National Championships in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Car ...

, describing 2019 & 2020 as "rotten". He beat

4–3 in a controversial game, with Anderson accusing his opponent of

gamesmanship Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods po ...

. Anderson then whitewashed

to reach the eighth PDC World Championship quarterfinal of his career.

Dirk van Duijvenbode Dirk van Duijvenbode (born 30 June 1992) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is known for his energetic walk-on, combined with hardstyle music. More recently, he has become known for ...

won the first set against Anderson in the quarter-finals, but Anderson turned the game around including a run of ten legs in a row to win the match 5–1. Anderson secured a 6–3 win over

in the semi-finals to qualify for his fifth World Championship final and set up a repeat of the controversial 2018 Grand Slam of Darts final against

. Anderson went on to lose the final 7–3 to Price. At the World Matchplay he lost in the second round to

Personal life

Originally from

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, Anderson moved to Eyemouth,

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

, after meeting his ex-wife Rosemary. The couple have two children. Having previously worked as a builder, Anderson and his partner Rachel moved south to run the Wellington Arms

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in Rooksbridge,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, for fellow PDC player Steve Grubb. The couple have a son Tai (born 2014), and in October 2017 welcomed a baby girl. Regulars at the Wellington Arms included former world champions,

Trina Gulliver Catrina Elizabeth Gulliver (born 30 November 1969) is an English professional darts player. She is the 10-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the British Darts Organisation (BDO). Her nickname is Golden Girl and in 2003, she was n ...

and Mark Webster. After handing over running of the pub in 2016 to a new manager to allow Anderson to fully commit to his darts career, the family have since resided in

Burnham on Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...

. Anderson's father Gordon died in March 2012. Anderson is a supporter of Scottish football club Hibernian. Having initially gone under the moniker 'Dreamboy' earlier in his darts career, Anderson is now known as 'The Flying Scotsman' (after the train of the same name), having adopted the nickname after it was passed on to him by Scottish darts legend Jocky Wilson in 2009.

Statistics

World Championship results

BDO

* 2002: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2003: Semi-finals (lost to

2–5) * 2004: First round (lost to

Tony O'Shea Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961) is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date ...

0–3) * 2005: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2006: Second round (lost to

1–4) * 2007: First round (lost to

1–3) * 2008: First round (lost to

2–3) * 2009: Quarter-finals (lost to

3–5)

PDC

* 2010: Second round (lost to

0–4) * 2011: Runner-up (lost to

5–7) * 2012: Quarter-finals (lost to

1–5) * 2013: Third round (lost to

0–4) * 2014: Third round (lost to

3–4) * 2015: Winner (beat Phil Taylor 7–6) * 2016: Winner (beat

7–5) * 2017: Runner-up (lost to

3–7) * 2018: Quarter-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 3–5) * 2019: Semi-finals (lost to

1–6) * 2020: Fourth round (lost to

2–4) * 2021: Runner-up (lost to

3–7) * 2022: Semi-finals (lost to Peter Wright 4–6) * 2023: ''Ongoing''

Career finals

BDO major finals: 4 (4 titles)

PDC major finals: 21 (8 titles, 13 runners-up)

PDC world series finals: 7 (6 titles, 1 runner-up)

PDC team finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Performance timeline

BDO

PDC

''PDC European Tour''

WDF Majors

Nine-dart finishes

Awards

PDC Awards

Anderson has received eight awards at the annual

PDC Awards Dinner The PDC Awards Dinner is an awards ceremony organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. It is held at the Dorchester Hotel in London. It has been held annually since 2007. Each January, the PDC has awarded players for outstanding performance ...

. , - , align="center", 2012 , , rowspan=5, Gary Anderson, , PDC Best Pro Tour Player , , , - , rowspan=4, align="center", 2015 , , PDC Player of the Year, , , - , PDPA Players' Player of the Year , , , - , PDC Fans' Player of the Year , , , - , Pro Tour Player of the Year, , , - , rowspan=3 align="center", 2016 , , Gary Anderson &

, , PDC Player of the Year, , , - , , Gary Anderson, , PDC Fans' Player of the Year , , , - ,

semi-final, , Televised Performance of the Year, , , - , align="center", 2016 , , rowspan=3, Gary Anderson, , PDC Player of the Year, , , - , rowspan=3 align="center", 2019 , , PDC Player of the Year, , , - , , PDC Fans' Player of the Year , , , - , , World Matchplay quarter-final, , Televised Performance of the Year , , , -

Notes

References

External links

Gary Anderson profile
Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Gary Anderson profile
Unicorn Darts. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Gary 1970 births Sportspeople from the Scottish Borders Living people Scottish darts players Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders British Darts Organisation players People from Eyemouth PDC world darts champions World Series of Darts winners UK Open champions World Matchplay (darts) champions Players Championship Finals champions Premier League Darts champions Champions League of Darts champions Darts players who have thrown televised nine-dart games PDC World Cup of Darts Scottish championship team