Anderson on potential of World Matchplay behind closed doors: "It would be weird"

PDC
Thursday, 04 June 2020 at 14:38
GRANDSLAM GP2 ANDERSON2A e1573431365935

Gary Anderson has tasted glory at the World Matchplay back in 2018 but there is the potential for players such as 'The Flying Scotsman' not to have the fans whether in the Winter Gardens or a different venue as potential plans are afoot for it to be held behind closed doors.

Due to the current situation regarding Coronavirus, if it does take place, it will be without fans and despite having experience of winning in front of no fans under different circumstances at the 2018 UK Open - it would still take some adjusting for Anderson.
"Darts needs it - it's all part of the parcel. You go up on stage, the crowd is there enjoying themselves," said Anderson to Sky Sports.
"Even on the Pro Tours, you get a bit of noise in the background. But it will be strange if they do put the darts back and it would be behind closed doors. It would be weird."
"They've got a hard job in front of them to work out what's going to happen," said the Flying Scotsman.
"I don't know how they're going to do it. I don't have a clue what's going to happen.

Potential logistical problems with darting return

As he went on to say, there is also the logistics that need to be considered. This is especially the case with Darts having many non-UK Tour Card holders, it presents the problem of the 14-day quarantine issued by the government recently.
"You've got the players who are coming from overseas. So anyone that lands into Britain, they've got to be in isolation for two weeks. So someone from Holland, they've got to be in a hotel two weeks beforehand.
"Hotels, what are they going to be like? What's the air conditioning going to be like?
"There are loads of things to think about. If we do play behind closed doors, we're only allowed to turn up ourselves. How do we get to the venue? Do we drive ourselves and drive back late at night? I don't know. It's all these little bits that need to be finalised and sorted out.
"I'm just going to leave it in their hands and see what happens. If we play, we play. If they move it later on in the year, then so be it. The way the year is going now, there's going to be a heck of a lot of darts [in the second half of 2020]."

Just in

Popular news