Gary Anderson is in full force again after several lesser years. The 53-year-old Scot particularly impressed at this year's Players Championship and also won a European Tour tournament for the first time in a decade.
Kempf begins by stating that a heck of a winning percentage is exceptional. "Winning 90% of one's matches on the ProTour is almost impossible - since the European Tour was added to the ProTour calendar in 2012, only two players have done it - Phil Taylor (2012) and Michael van Gerwen (2016). Even players with statistics as impressive as Taylor's or Van Gerwen's in their prime are unlikely to reach that 90% threshold today," he said.
In an attempt to achieve the impossible, Luke Littler is currently in the lead with an 83% win rate and world champion Luke Humphries is on 76%. In between is Gary Anderson, who is pushing hard to exceed 82% for the first time since 2020.
New benchmark
Anderson recently won another European Tour tournament for the first time since 2014. In the final of the European Darts Grand Prix, he defeated Ross Smith 8-6. At age 53, the Scottish titan is approaching the form Phil Taylor achieved at the same age - and if he can keep this up until the end of his career, he could be a new benchmark for performance in darts (and sport more generally) at an increasingly advanced age.
"Anderson's 32-7 ProTour record encompasses five wins against current members of the Premier League, nine wins at the quarter-final stage or later and four 6-0 whitewashes," said Kempf. "The quality of his defeats are revealing as well - in none of his seven losses has 'The Flying Scotsman' been defeated by a margin of more than two legs."
World rankings
Despite his strong performance, Anderson currently ranks only 21st in the world rankings. "Even with the increased prize money bestowed upon European Tour champions, Anderson's winnings at the European Grand Prix don't even fall within the 25 largest payouts of his career.
"He continues to perform at the same level which won him two Premier Leagues, two World Championship titles and millions in prize money, but now those same victories are vital in his quest to return to the TV stage.
The Scot is so far the only player in the 2024 season with an average of 100. Moreover, there is almost no major statistic in which Anderson is not currently in the top ten. So with this form, it seems only a matter of time before he climbs to the top 16 in the world rankings again.
World Championship favorite
What still drives Anderson at age 53? "Maybe the allure of a final world title keeps him motivated," Kempf wonders. "It's not an unrealistic aspiration for 'The Flying Scotsman'. If the 2025 World Championship were to begin today, Anderson would arguably be the favourite.
Having aspirations to achieve such greatness at his age, and the stats and victories which put him on the requisite trajectory to get him there, make Anderson the unexpected, unheralded, most outstanding player of 2024 so far.
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