Gary Anderson wants to create more history of the World Championship | Darts news

Anderson had one of the best years of his career in 2018

Gary Anderson wants to become the second man to win a third PDC World Championship title and, after surviving a terrible scare during an epic match in the third round, the Scottish could be about to create a new story, writes Josh Gorton.

Since coming to the scene in the early 2000s, Anderson's mercenary talent was still very clear, but there were real concerns about whether he would ever achieve his obvious potential.

& # 39; The Flying Scotsman & # 39; First of all, he was active on the BDO circuit, but despite his many victories in the standings, he always struggled to get to the world championships.

DOWNLOAD THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL OF THE PODCAST DOWTS SHOW

Anderson was eliminated in the first round in five of his eight appearances at Lakeside. In 2003, he raced to the semi-finals because of his inexplicably poor record at Frimley Green.

He threw his darts into the lakeside lake several times, frustrated at not being able to produce the goods on the biggest stage, which seems unthinkable given his continued success within the PDC.

Nevertheless, it just shows that the rise of the Scots to the top of the world darts has been anything but serene.

Anderson crossed the line in 2009 and almost a decade after his stint at the PDC, the Scotsman has imposed himself as a great modern player. You feel that there is still a lot to come.

However, Anderson was not an unknown quantity until his change of PDC. In 2007, he beat Phil Taylor 7-3 in sets to win the World Darts Cross Trophy; on average over 103 in the process.

Anderson wants to reach fourth world championship final in five years

His clbad was undeniable, but he began his life on the PDC circuit disappointingly, before heading to the World Championship final in 2011, where he succumbed to Adrian Lewis in a clbadic encounter.

Anderson then took his revenge by defeating Lewis to win the 2011 Premier League title, although that did not spark the initial era of dominance that many predicted.

Ace of Musselburgh has had tough times out of the game and was relegated to the rank of Premier League 2013, before falling outside the world's top 16 later that year.

However, in the face of adversity, Anderson rebuilt his career before anything happened in 2015.

After winning the finals of the 2014 players' championship, the Scottish defeated Phil Taylor 7-6 to win his first world championship title in an exciting affair at Alexandra Palace.

A few months later, Anderson won his second Premier League title with a victory over Michael van Gerwen, before retaining his title of world champion in a complete way. land a new darter along the way.

Since then, "The Flying Scotsman" has remained among the world's elite; winner of first titles at the UK Open, World Matchplay and Darts Champions League in 2018.

Anderson's exciting triumph in Winter Gardens against Mensur Suljovic saw him complete the coveted "Triple Crown", joining Taylor and Van Gerwen as the winner of the World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay .

Aged 47, it can be said that he is in the best shape of his career and, therefore, he is very eager to win his third world champion title in five years on New Year's Day. .

He recorded a comfortable 3-1 win against Kevin Burness in his first game, before overtaking Jermaine Wattimena in one of the tournament matches.

2:51

Gary Anderson almost left World Dart Championship against Jermaine Wattimena

& # 39; The Flying Scotsman & # 39; led 3-1, before Wattimena scored three sets apiece after Anderson dropped five darts.

The Dutch led 2-0 in the standings, but missed the bull for a spectacular victory of 170 points. Anderson won five of the last six games to win in an electrifying competition of 35 games taking just 52 minutes and 12 seconds.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Anderson would be upbeat after such a reprieve, but he remained completely lucid.

"It's getting harder and harder to keep winning with the level of players around us, but I'm always going there," joked Anderson.

"It's one of those tournaments where anything can happen but I'm going to do my best to win title three."

Many of the greatest dart champions possess the aura and arrogance that suits their status, although Anderson's erased behavior contradicts this stereotype.

After Taylor's retirement after the tournament last year, combined with the imminent retirement of five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, Anderson is one of the few remaining stars of the "old school".

The Scot was dragged into a thundercloud Grand Slam final against Gerwyn Price last month, and it's no secret that Anderson is not a fan of Price's tumultuous celebrations.

Anderson insists that he loves confrontations with his former rival Van Gerwen because there is no play, no antics, just world-clbad arrows played at an electric pace.

Both players are undeniably the two best darts players in the world right now, but they have to meet in the semifinals. Anderson is ranked fourth at Alexandra Palace.

Anderson and Van Gerwen are ranked to meet in semi-final

This is largely due to the fact that Anderson did not appear on the European tour circuit for two years, preferring to spend more time with his young family and manage the grueling schedule accordingly.

Anderson's family nature is another reason for his popularity, and he attributes to his family the change in his outlook and the trivialization of darts.

Despite this, Anderson's silver spree shows little sign of stopping, as he looks for the third time the Holy Grail of Darts, which would crown the biggest year of his illustrious career.

The strength of the depth of this sport is illustrated by the fact that we have seen six different winners in seven television events ranked in 2018, but Van Gerwen and Anderson remain the men to beat.

They have won four of the last five world championship titles, but, as the Scot has already recorded three televised wins against "The Green Machine" this year, could we be about to witness another seismic moment of Gary Anderson's career?

You can follow every dart in every session of the Sky Sports Darts World Darts – check out the full program here. You can also stay informed about all the action behind the scenes by following us. @SkySportsDarts