"It's bad for the sport": Vincent van der Voort hits out at Gary Anderson nearly winning titles despite poor attitude to darts

Gary Anderson seemed to be in top form during the Grand Slam of Darts. 'The Flying Scotsman' reached the semifinals and even came close to a spot in the final. In the end, however, Luke Littler proved too strong for the 53-year-old Scot.

Vincent van der Voort is annoyed that someone like Anderson, who puts little time into his preparation, can perform so well at a major tournament out of the blue. "This is obviously not how you want to see it. It sends a bad signal to the sport when someone like him can suddenly win a tournament like this. He is someone who shows up once in a while and does nothing else for it," he explained in the podcast Darts Draait Door.

"You want someone to win who does everything for the sport, someone who handles it professionally. Anderson says everywhere he goes that he plays occasional matches and tournaments and never practices otherwise. That you can even visit him to see that it's really like that. He basically wants to indicate that he doesn't do anything for it."

If the two-time world champion wins a major ranking tournament, the PDC would possibly invite him to certain tournaments again. However, according to Gian van Veen, who was a guest on the podcast episode, the Scot is not interested in such invitations at all. "The PDC would like him, but he won't say yes to it," the Dutchman stated.

"He's been saying for years that he won't do that anymore. If he would then suddenly go now, you come across badly. But he's getting stubborn anyway and he's not going to do it anyway. Unless he becomes world champion. Then he is going to get some calls yes", says Van Veen with a smile. Van der Voort laughingly responds: "But then it would also be stylish if he doesn't go. Again, a bad signal for the sport, but it would also be a nice story."