​Scotland’s Gary Anderson hoping for third world darts title as birthday present

​East Lothian-born Anderson, formerly of Eyemouth but now living in Somerset, won the PDC world darts championship in 2015 and 2016 and is now hoping to get third time lucky at London’s Alexandra Palace – and he reckons being in the form of his life will stand him in good stead to take on the likes of England’s Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.

So far this year, he’s won three PDC ranking titles – April’s European Darts Grand Prix, a decade on from his first European Tour victory, and two players’ championships – and his average score of just under 100, at 99.86, is the highest of any tour card-holder to qualify.

Anderson – ranked 14th in the world at the moment, 67 places higher than Dutch-born de Graaf, 34 – told the PDC: “I probably am playing better than ever, with the amount of 110-plus averages I’ve hit.

“I’ve had averages over 120, I’ve had 114s, 113s, 112s. I just turn up and enjoy it. The ProTour events I love.

“We have a bit of a banter and then I chuck a few arrows and it seems to be working a treat for me.

“I’m not on stage as much nowadays, but it’s coming good.

“If my floor game goes on to the stage every game, it would be looking good, but whether that happens is a completely different story. It would be nice to win this title again, but I don’t look that far ahead.”

Anderson rates current world champion Humphries, world No 3 Michael van Gerwen and world No 4 Littler amo ng the front-runners for 2024’s title.

“Before, you could pick a dozen potential winners – now you’ve got two or three dozen players who could possibly lift the title,” he said.

“You’re going to have your favourites – Luke Humphries, van Gerwen, young Luke Littler – then you’ve got your outsiders.

“It’s going to be an interesting one, I think. I think there’s going to be that many top players all at the same level, and it’s going to be some battle. It could kick up some stink.

“There could be someone who comes from out of the blue to win it.

“It’s nice to see that, and I think over the next few years you’re going to see a lot of that happening, a lot of young faces coming through and just storming through.

“We’ve got so many good young players now.”

Anderson’s respect for Cheshire’s Littler is reciprocated, with the 17-year-old, this week named as the BBC’s young sports personality of the year, warning: “You’ve always got to keep an eye on Gary Anderson – he’s always there.”