rewrite this title World Darts Championship: Gary Anderson ready to show experience pays – ‘I’m averaging higher than all of them’

A lot of darts fans will head to Ally Pally focused on the talented youngsters coming through the ranks, but Gary Anderson is intent on showing he is still a better player than them.

Two-time world champion Anderson has been in sensational form of late after rediscovering his love for darts, making it to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam where he lost to Luke Littler in an all-time classic match.

Now, the 53-year-old will turn his focus to a stage on which he has had so much success – Alexandra Palace – as he gets ready to face either Jeffrey de Graaf or Rashad Sweeting in the second round.

While the ‘Flying Scotsman’ is a household name for darts aficionados, attention lately has been on the likes of Littler, Gian van Veen and Mike De Decker coming up through the ranks and causing a stir.

Anderson, though, is quietly confident that, in the biggest tournament of them all, experience will always pay. Plus, an average that beats the rising stars also helps!

“Yeah, it’s getting better. But at the same stage, what I try to tell people is the old guys are still playing well,” Anderson said.

“I’m still averaging probably higher than all of them put together. So, yes, they’ve got youth on their side, which to us boys is a bit downgrading because we want to be young again, but they’ve got a great future in front of them.

“Darts is going to be very good in the next four to five, six years.”

Although Anderson is happy to see so many new players get so much success, he does maintain a worry that the sport is their sole earner.

Indeed, he would push for them to have a “safety net” to fall back on due to darts’ unpredictable nature.

“It is great for youngsters, they come straight out of school, they’re making so much money, fantastic, absolutely fantastic. But if anything goes wrong, they’ve never got a trade to go to,” he said.

“If something happened, they couldn’t throw darts, they’ve got dartitis, can’t play darts ever again, what are they going to do? They’ve left school, they’ve done darts for four or five years, they’re now stuck, there’s not a lot out there.

“I’ve always said, get a trade, have something behind you that you can fall onto. It’s there for a safety net.”

‘I’ve not done too bad’: Ando reminisces on Worlds glory

Anderson is in an elite group of players who have gone back-to-back at the Worlds, just Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis joining him in that feat.

Out of his two wins, beating the best player of all time in Taylor is his highlight, but he does admit he turned up in 2017 wanting the hat-trick and was disappointed to lose in the final to Michael van Gerwen.

“Well, it’s winning it twice, you know, but I’ve been in five finals,” Anderson said.

“Out of the two, it would have to be playing Phil. You know Phil, the legend that he is, and the amount of times he’s won championships on that stage.

“You’ve got youngsters there now that will never have the chance to play Phil Taylor.

“So even if Phil had beat me, it wouldn’t have bothered me. I was playing Phil Taylor in the final.”

“I think when you win it, the pressure’s off,” the Scotsman added.

“It doesn’t matter what happens after that, your name’s always going to be on that trophy.

“When I won it the second time, the third time, I did go for the hat-trick.

“There have been boys that have won it back-to-back. I don’t think they’ve done it three times in a row. But I made the finals – so I’ve done five finals, won it twice, so I’ve done not too bad there.”

Expectations? Absolutely none!

Some players will enter the World Championship with specific targets in mind, but for Anderson just “playing well” is the only goal, with the hope that results then follow.

“You want to play well in every tournament. For sure,” he said.

“But we’re getting to the end of it. You know, the World Championship at the end of the year, so we’ve just come to the end of the Pro Tour, end of the European, Grand Slam, Players’ Championship, on to the Worlds. So that should give the boys time to get ready for the big one.

“I can play well one day and absolutely terrible the next day.

“So I don’t expect nothing now. I’ve got no expectations. I just want to go up there and play well.

“It’s probably the first big stage, especially for the newcomers. And the first time they’re up there, that’s one of the biggest stages that any darts player will play. Well, it is the biggest stage.

“Just the sheer length of the stage and the crowd behind it. So, the first time, it is a bit off-putting and a different atmosphere.”

When will the World Darts Championship take place?

The tournament gets under way at Alexandra Palace on Sunday December 15, with three first-round matches and one second-round match on the opening evening.

There will be live darts over each of the following eight days, including seven afternoon sessions, with the usual three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day before returning with the third round and a double session on December 27.

The third and fourth rounds will be completed by December 30 before a night off on New Year’s Eve, with the quarter-finals held across two sessions on New Year’s Day ahead of the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday January 3.

The full day-by-day schedule for this year’s tournament can be found here.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 15-January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.