"I’ll prove you all wrong. Every single one of you” - Gary Anderson overcomes illness, doubters and a lack of practice

Gary Anderson once again showed on the big stage why he remains one of the most respected and well-liked figures in darts. The two-time world champion, who has been far more selective with his schedule in recent years, produced a tidy opening-round display at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead, beating Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde 6–2.

But behind the humour and the deadpan delivery, there was a striking honesty as the legendary Flying Scotsman addressed the media post-match: Anderson is juggling time, motivation and a sport that’s getting more professional by the minute.

When Anderson looks back on his career and how he’s approached the sport, he doesn’t sugar-coat a thing. He’s always been blunt, and he leans straight into it again. “I should have stuck to snooker. It was a lot easier,” he joked.

Then came the real substance. “No, I’d like to put more time into it. You know, it’s always been a jolly for me. Darts has always been a hobby, don’t care what anyone says. I hear this, ‘I really don’t practise,’ and they say, ‘You do practise.’ And I’ve told you this before: come and live with me for six months and then go and do what I do. Come and quite happily stay with me and you video every second of my life and I’ll prove you all wrong. Every single one of you.”

It’s a revealing admission at a time when the next generation — Luke Littler, Josh Rock, and the rest — are battering the practice board day in, day out. Anderson freely admits he hasn’t done that for years, if ever.

In Minehead, Anderson brought out his iconic black Unicorn Noirs again — for the first time since Wolverhampton. “It’s all right, because that’s the first time the darts have came out of the box. I’ve been in bed since Wolverhampton. They were all right, didn’t they?”

Choosing them wasn’t exactly a long-planned masterstroke, either. “I was speaking to Jack from Unicorn. I said yesterday, I said, ‘I might give them a go.’ ‘Don’t, don’t, because you had to throw them. No. Just do your normal ones.’ But I thought, I might as well give them a go.”

Will he stick with them? “Don’t know yet. They’re nice. They fly nice. Grip’s amazing with them — a bit too good. I’ll find the right place to hold them and hopefully it’ll be good.”

Anderson admitted he was still nowhere near fully recovered physically. After the Grand Slam, he’d been in bits. “I thought I’d come here if I was on death's door. I don’t actually know if I’ve actually died and this is hell. It’s like the Matrix, you know what I mean?”

He wasn’t exaggerating about how grim it got. “I couldn’t swallow. My throat was absolutely in bits — sweats, sore head. Couldn’t get my coffee down. But it’s one of these things.”

As for failing to get out of the group at the Grand Slam — for the first time ever — he couldn’t have cared less. “Not at all. Not at all. I played really well against Beau, you know. And against Niko — he just finished better at the end of the day. That’s it. I’ve had a good run.”

One of the more telling sections came when Anderson was asked whether players should ease up on themselves after early exits.

“It does with the youngsters because this is what they want, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve done this 31 years now. I don’t put a lot of time into the sport. If I did, I’d be winning more games, put it that way. But the youngsters, they’re just starting out. They’re going to play darts 24/7. They’ve got to. The standard they play just now, youngsters coming through — they’ve got to play every day of the week. They’ve got to do every single tournament on the circuit, which is hard going. But we’ve all done that. It’s their time now.”

Anderson, by contrast, is just “plotting along”.

What really stood out was how openly he talked about darts no longer being his top priority.

“I’ve not got time to play darts at this moment in my life. I’ve got so much going on. Darts is down the ladders. If I need to get back there, I need to put 100% in — and at this moment, I’ve not got 100%.”

Anderson was also asked about Adrian Lewis, after openly saying earlier this year he’d love to see him return to the Pro Tour.

“It’d be great to have him back. The man is absolutely fantastic. We have a laugh, a giggle, a wee bit of the piss-take, and he’s got so much talent. But like he says, he’s got his head screwed on. Family comes first — and it does. Family always comes first, even over the pennies.”

Anderson reflects on his career with the same honesty he’s always had. No fake regret, no melodrama — just realism. “I’ve had a good run. That’s it. End of Gary.”

For a man who has always treated darts as a hobby, he remains one of the purest natural talents the sport has ever produced. And for that reason, the darts world quietly hopes he’s far from finished.