Full Name: Gary Anderson
Date of Birth: December 22nd, 1970
Place of Birth: Eyemouth
Nationality: Scottish
Gary Anderson is the highest-ranked Scottish professional darts player and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is “The Flying Scotsman” and famously defeated Phil Taylor in the final of the World Darts Trophy in 2007. He also reached the final of the PDC World Championship in 2011 and winning the Premier League in the same year.
Anderson had his big breakthrough when winning the 2001 Welsh Open, qualifying for the following year’s World Championship. In 2002, he reached the semi-finals before losing to Ritchie Davies. Anderson won both the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy titles in 2007, beating several of the top players and world champions from both the PDC and BDO. His victims included Mervyn King, James Wade, Adrian Lewis, Mark Webster, Andy Hamilton and Phil Taylor.
Anderson also won the BDO British Open and the Zuiderduin Masters, the latter for a second consecutive season. In 2008, Anderson won the German and Welsh Open titles. He joined the PDC early in 2009 and made his televised debut in Cardiff, averaging 107. He was knocked out of the PDC World Championship in the second round by Ronnie Baxter.
In June 2010, Anderson reached his first PDC major final at the UK Open. Phil Taylor defeated him 11-5 in the final following victories over Michael van Gerwen, Paul Nicholson, Mervyn King, Andy Hamilton, and Tony Ayres. He then produced the first whitewash for six years at the Matchplay, crushing fellow Scot Robert Thornton 10-0. He was beaten in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts by Wayne Jones.
Anderson reached the final of the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, beating Dennis Priestley and Raymond van Barneveld before losing 7-5 to Adrian Lewis. That performance guaranteed him a place in the 2011 Premier League. He reached a second successive major final at the 2011 Players Championship Finals, losing 13-12 to Phil Taylor in a thrilling encounter. Anderson won his first four Premier League games before losing to Taylor in week five. He again defeated Van Barneveld in the semi-final and then Adrian Lewis 10-4 to win his first major championship in the PDC. He reached the final of the Grand Slam of Darts and was named the Best PDC ProTour Player 2011, having won seven Players Championships and UK Open Qualifiers during the year.
Anderson was beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2012 World Championship by Simon Whitlock and slumped to bottom of the table in his defence of the Premier League. He had his first live televised nine-dart finish in June during the UK Open before an enforced two-month absence due to an eye problem. He was beaten in the final of the 14th Players Championship of the year by Thornton, 6-5. Anderson won the Irish Masters by beating Colin Osborne 6–1 in the final before finishing second in his group in the Grand Slam of Darts. He was beaten 10-9 by Andy Hamilton but had done enough to qualify for the Players Championship Finals, losing to Whitlock in the quarter-finals. Anderson was comprehensively beaten by Raymond van Barneveld in the 2013 World Championship, dropping outside the top ten as a result.
