With his 5-2 win over sensational quarter-finalist Justin Hood, Gary Anderson is in the semi-finals of a Darts World Cup for the first time since 2022. What will happen next for the Scot after the highlight of the season is still up in the air. The superstar basically rules out one scenario. Max Hopp expresses an exciting suspicion.
On New Year’s Day, two-time darts world champion Gary Anderson brought tournament debutant Justin Hood’s sensational winning streak to an abrupt end in the quarter-finals. After the 55-year-old had already eliminated Michael van Gerwen in the round of 16, the 2015 and 2016 champion is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the fight for the World Cup crown.
Reaching the semi-finals of the Darts World Championship also catapults the “Flying Scotsman” into discussions about the financially extremely lucrative Premier League. According to Anderson, he has no interest at all in the invitational tournament. “I’m too old,” he told “Sport1” with a view to a possible nomination.
Darts: Gary Anderson ‘too old’ for Premier League
“I loved playing on the Pro Tour and I enjoyed the European Tour. I’ve done it all before – the Premier League, the Pro Tour, the European Tour,” Anderson continued, explaining his decision: “That’s why I haven’t played the European tournaments for a long time because it’s just too much. I’m too old.”
In the past, Anderson, who will now face Gian van Veen or Luke Humphries in the semi-finals, had repeatedly toyed with the idea of ending his successful career. “Sport1” expert Max Hopp has a suspicion: “If he goes through here, gets the million at the age of 55 and wins his third world championship title, I honestly don’t know whether he would even continue.”
The fact that the Scot could end his career after a triumph in the “Ally Pally” is a “steep theory,” the “Maximiser” continued, but: “Perhaps he would lay down his darts right at the peak of his career.”