Gary Anderson suffered a shock earlier exit from the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally as he was beaten by Jeffrey De Graaf but has no plans to retire with his next steps outlined
Gary Anderson suffered a shock earlier exit from the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally as he was beaten by Jeffrey De Graaf but has no plans to retire with his next steps outlined Gary Anderson suffered a shock earlier exit from the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally as he was beaten by Jeffrey De Graaf but has no plans to retire with his next steps outlined
Gary Anderson has revealed the lumberjack torment behind his Ally Pally birthday blow-out – he injured his shoulder chopping down trees.
The Flying Scotsman suffered his earliest-ever exit at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship, bowing out 3-0 against unfancied Swede Jeffrey De Graaf at the first hurdle after hitting just three of his 20 shots at doubles.
Anderson’s worst defeat at the tournament came on his 54th birthday and his manager Tommy Gilmour explained: “For the last week he’s been suffering problems with his shoulder.
“He was cutting trees at his (private) lake. That’s what happens when you have another job and you have to keep everything going. He admitted his shoulder was killing him and he was on the painkillers. That’s why he was just 15 percent on his doubles. He’s not been able to reach up to the doubles.
“A player of Gary’s calibre doesn’t only hit 15 percent on the doubles, I knew something was bothering him. He was really looking forward to the world championships. It’s a disaster in a way because he was looking forward to it.”
Gilmour bristled at suggestions that Anderson might be on the road to retirement, scoffing: “Gary finished? What a load of b******s, he’s No.12 in the world! It was a bad night in the office.”
Anderson is already looking to get straight onto the horse once the tournament at Ally Pally is over as his manager admitted he received a Monday morning message of defiance from Scot.
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Sky Sports)
Gilmour admitted: “I got a text from him this morning saying: I’ll make it up to you at the Masters. I’m going in for a heart operation at some stage over the next couple of weeks.
“I told him after last night: Nae wonder I’ve got heart problems. He responded and said he didn’t know I had a heart! That’s why I wasn’t down in London for his match, but [daughter] Stephanie was there to represent Dunvegan and look after him.”
His manager though has poured water on the idea of the Scot making a return to the Premier League – a tournament he has chosen to swerve.
He said: “Gary is still very positive about having a good season. People are criticising him for not wanting to do the Premier League. There is not a chance in this world he would survive another year in darts if he did the Premier League. That would mean 17 weeks away constantly, he couldn’t do that.”
Mirror – Sport