"I'm still averaging probably higher than all of them put together" - Gary Anderson heads to Ally Pally determined to make his mark against new generation

Gary Anderson begins his quest for a third world title in a few weeks against either Jeffrey de Graaf or Rashad Sweeting. After a quieter few years, the 53-year-old Scot comes to this PDC World Darts Championship high on confidence and in top form.

Although perhaps more of a dark horse than an outright favourite to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy on January 3rd, Anderson has been the top performing player on the Pro Tour in 2024 average wise, rising back up the Order of Merit as a result and arriving at the Alexandra Palace this year as 14th seed.

"Yeah, it's getting better. But at the same stage, what I try to tell people is the old guys are still playing well," Anderson says confidently in conversation with Sky Sports, determined to prove himself against the current crop of darting stars such as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. "I'm still averaging probably higher than all of them put together. So, yes, they've got youth on their side, which to us boys is a bit downgrading because we want to be young again, but they've got a great future in front of them. Darts is going to be very good in the next four to five, six years."

"It is great for youngsters, they come straight out of school, they're making so much money, fantastic, absolutely fantastic. But if anything goes wrong, they've never got a trade to go to," he continues, reflecting on the differences between nowadays and when he was starting out on his darts career. "If something happened, they couldn't throw darts, they've got dartitis, can't play darts ever again, what are they going to do? They've left school, they've done darts for four or five years, they're now stuck, there's not a lot out there. I've always said, get a trade, have something behind you that you can fall onto. It's there for a safety net."

With two titles already under his belt, a third would put Anderson clear as the most successful Scot in World Darts Championship history. "Well, it's winning it twice, you know, but I've been in five finals," Anderson is quick to note. "Out of the two, it would have to be playing Phil. You know Phil, the legend that he is, and the amount of times he's won championships on that stage. You've got youngsters there now that will never have the chance to play Phil Taylor. So even if Phil had beat me, it wouldn't have bothered me. I was playing Phil Taylor in the final."

"I think when you win it, the pressure's off," the Scotsman adds. "It doesn't matter what happens after that, your name's always going to be on that trophy. When I won it the second time, the third time, I did go for the hat-trick. There have been boys that have won it back-to-back. I don't think they've done it three times in a row. But I made the finals - so I've done five finals, won it twice, so I've done not too bad there."

As for this year though, as mentioned Anderson comes in more as a dark horse than one of the outright favourites and as such, the pressure is eased slightly. "You want to play well in every tournament. For sure," he previews. "But we're getting to the end of it. You know, the World Championship at the end of the year, so we've just come to the end of the Pro Tour, end of the European, Grand Slam, Players' Championship, on to the Worlds. So that should give the boys time to get ready for the big one. I can play well one day and absolutely terrible the next day. So I don't expect nothing now. I've got no expectations. I just want to go up there and play well."

And his experience could be key. "It's probably the first big stage, especially for the newcomers. And the first time they're up there, that's one of the biggest stages that any darts player will play. Well, it is the biggest stage," he concludes. "Just the sheer length of the stage and the crowd behind it. So, the first time, it is a bit off-putting and a different atmosphere."