GARY ANDERSON has been accused of ‘sending a bad signal’ to darts – because he nearly WON a major tournament.
The Flying Scotsman reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts, losing out to eventual winner Luke Littler.
Gary Anderson lost a thrilling semi-final to Luke Littler[/caption]
The Flying Scotsman was in superb form at the Grand Slam of Darts[/caption]
Anderson, 53, was back to his best in Wolverhampton and made it all the way to the final four.
The two-time world champion went head-to-head with Luke Littler for a place in the final.
What followed was one of the best games of darts in recent memory, with Littler narrowly winning 16-15 in a thriller.
Despite coming up short, Anderson has re-entered the top 16 of the world rankings.
Anderson, the world champion in 2015 and 2016, hasn’t won a major title since 2018 and hasn’t been shy in revealing in recent years how he NEVER practices at all.
And the fact he came so close to glory at the Grand Slam has annoyed Dutch darts hero Vincent van der Voort.
Former world championship quarter-finalist van der Voort, who has never won a major title himself, reckons Anderson managing to reach the semi-finals is BAD for the sport.
Accusing Anderson of only showing up ‘once in a while,’ van der Voort reckons it isn’t good for the game
He told podcast Darts Draait Door: “This is obviously not how you want to see it.
“It sends a bad signal to the sport when someone like him can suddenly win a tournament like this.
“He is someone who shows up once in a while and does nothing else for it.
“You want someone to win who does everything for the sport, someone who handles it professionally.
“Anderson says everywhere he goes that he plays occasional matches and tournaments and never practices otherwise.
“That you can even visit him to see that it’s really like that. He basically wants to indicate that he doesn’t do anything for it.”
Anderson has indicated that he would REFUSE any invitation into the lucrative Premier League Darts.
The popular tournament runs for several months from February to May each year and brings the best players in the world together for regular head-to-head matchups.
But despite dates in Aberdeen and Glasgow, there could be NO Scottish players in the line-up in 2025.
While Anderson hasn’t featured for a while, Peter Wright has been a regular fixture in the Premier League.
But Snakebite’s form has tailed off dramatically and he’s now fallen out of the world’s top 16 for the first time in 11 years.
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