Burnham-On-Sea darts star Gary Anderson is through to the last four of the darts PDC World Championships for the first time in four years.
Gary beat fellow Somerset player Justin Hood 5-2 at Alexandra Palace on New Year’s Day, setting up a semi-final game with 23-year-old Dutchman Gian van Veen tonight (Friday January 2nd).
The first four sets of Thursday’s quarter-final were shared before Anderson, 55, stepped on the accelerator – winning nine of the next 10 legs to secure a convincing victory.
“I’m just happy to get over that line. I had control at certain stages, but then I made a mess of it at times, and when it got to 2-2 I thought ‘oh dear’,” he told Sky Sports.
“I started to get into a rhythm at the end there and throw darts fast and it was working. I’m just over the moon to get through.”
Gary, who won back-to-back PDC world titles in 2015 and 2016, said of his Championship chances this year: “Next game first.”
Glastonbury’s Justin Hood, 32, earned plenty of plaudits for his play and became a crowd favourite during his first appearance at Alexandra Palace.
Hood earned £100,000 for reaching the quarter-finals – a portion of which he has said he intends to use to open a Chinese restaurant – and he has risen from 86th to 50th in the PDC world rankings.
