"He can win it next year when he’s 56" - Age not an issue for Gary Anderson's dream of 3rd world title, claims Wayne Mardle

Gary Anderson doesn’t need to scale back his ambitions just yet. Despite his exit in the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals, Wayne Mardle believes the Scot is still capable of becoming world champion again at 55. The Sky Sports analyst was deeply impressed by the level Anderson produced against Gian van Veen, even though the match ultimately ended in defeat.

Anderson fell short in a thrilling semi-final, where he came close to a third world title. With an average of almost 103, a 170 checkout, and a doubles success rate around fifty percent, the two-time world champion showed he still belongs among the absolute elite. Van Veen, however, proved just a touch cooler at the key moments.

For Anderson, it was another attempt to make history. At 55, he could have become the oldest world champion ever. A notable detail: his age was fourteen years older than the combined age of finalists Luke Littler and Van Veen.

Despite the disappointment, Anderson has already confirmed he will return next year, when the World Championship moves to the Great Hall at Alexandra Palace and 180,000 more fans can be accommodated.

Wayne Mardle mainly saw confirmation. “Gary’s been kind of looking like he can win something on the big stage for a while without doing it,” he analysed on Sky Sports. “He won the World Cup in 2019, but 2018 was his last singles win. So, whilst he wins on tour, he doesn’t do this that often. He really doesn’t.”

According to Mardle, Anderson’s strength lay in how he handled the pressure. “But I did say before a dart was thrown in this semi-final that I didn’t think he would buckle at all and he really didn’t,” said the former World Championship semi-finalist. "I didn’t foresee him playing that well and still getting beat by that scoreline. Who could foresee that?"

The fact that Anderson is now 55 is not a barrier for the time being, says Mardle. “And more people giving it: He can win it next year when he’s 56. It will become a problem eventually. But for him right now, age is not a problem,” he stated.

The Sky analyst called the semi-final “everything you expect from elite sport.” “It was captivating. It was everything you want from professional sport. From start to finish, you didn’t want to miss any of it. Some of the standard within it was absolutely ridiculous. For one of them to do it was fine, but they were doing it at the same time against each other. The 140, 180, 140, it was relentless.”

Mardle believes Anderson will mostly focus on what could have been better. “He will take away that he’s lost, the way he played, he will find fault in it,” he said. “He will definitely find fault and it wasn’t the perfect game. Of course it wasn’t. Otherwise, he would have averaged 107, 108 and he would have taken every chance, but it doesn’t work that way."

The finishes proved decisive above all. “He and Van Veen with those 25 finishes, the 47, the 59, the 60, whatever they were. He just kept popping them. And in the end, Gary didn’t,” said Mardle. “But, as for all the scoring, it was just all so close so often."

When Van Veen pulled away to 4-1 in sets, Mardle still anticipated a turning point. “You’re thinking: Right, Gary may fold here, may buckle. None of it.”