World champion Gary Anderson determined to make it an Alexandra Palace hat-trick
'The Flying Scotsman' says Michael van Gerwen is the man to beat
Thursday 15 December 2016 21:23, UK
Reigning world champion Gary Anderson is determined to join the greats of the game as a three-time winner of darts' biggest tournament.
The Borders thrower heads to the tournament with realistic ambitions of lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy for a third successive year with dreams of reaching his fourth final on the Alexandra Palace oche on January 2.
Back-to-back champion Anderson begins his quest against qualifier Mark Frost on the opening night in north London and has a chance of joining an elite group of players who are three-time world champions, including Eric Bristow, Raymond van Barneveld and 16-time winner Phil Taylor.
And the 45-year-old is confident a sustained period of practice will help him in his bid for more glory on the biggest stage of them all.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports' Dave Clark ahead of Thursday's match, he said: "This is the trophy that we all want.
"When you talk about legends of darts, you've just mentioned them, so to join that little pack of boys would mean a lot.
"I thought my best chance of lifting it was 2011 against Aidy Lewis. After Aidy beat me I thought, 'well, if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be'. And then a few years later, I managed to get my hands on the trophy."
Anderson feels his son Tai was a major factor in helping turn himself from a nearly man into a world-beater.
"I think it was about two years ago when I was having a hard time. I didn't want to play darts and then Tai came along which was a big weight off my shoulders.
"The pressure went and the doubles started going in and everything felt fine."
Anderson believes that world No 1 and dominant force Michael van Gerwen is the man to beat once again as the Dutch ace targets his second title, and he also has a word of warning for those writing off 'The Power'.
"The last three, four years Michael has been absolutely tremendous. It's now all Michael, and yes, he's going to be favourite, but there's a dozen other boys that could quite easily lift it.
"Never ever write Phil Taylor off. He has a bad spell and loses a few times, 'that's Phil finished'. Phil is never finished."
You can watch the PDC World Darts Championship final from Thursday 15th December - live on Sky Sports. Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get six months half price. Don't forget to send us your comments and predictions ahead of this year's tournament by tweeting us @SkySportsDarts ... #LoveTheDarts
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