Gary Anderson is undoubtedly one of the greatest darts players to ever live.
His résumé includes two World Championships, two Premier Leagues and a World Matchplay despite contending with Phil Taylor and peak Michael van Gerwen.
It looked like the 53-year-old was ready to wind down his career a couple of years ago but his performances over the last 18 months have suggested the contrary.
He has lifted numerous titles since the start of last year and has made a successful return to the European Tour, firing in multiple monster averages along the way.
In today’s Players Championship event, Anderson produced another stunning performance to produce the second-highest recorded average ever seen in the sport.
Gary Anderson averages nearly 124
In a round of 16 match against Andrew Gilding, Anderson won six legs with a mere 74 darts – an average of 12.3 darts per leg.
His average was 123.83, adding to his ton-plus average in the previous round against Connor Scutt.
According to darts statistician TheRedBit180 on X, this performance is only second to José de Sousa’s 127.01 average since Darts Connect began recording all player averages in 2018.
One fan described Anderson as ‘out of this world’, and another described him as ‘different gravy’.
Before his sensational display against Gilding, Sky Sports pundit and commentator Dan Dawson lauded the Scotsman’s scoring prowess in his previous match against Scutt.
On PDC.TV, he said: “He’s playing with a cheat code here Gary Anderson. He’s hitting 180s in every leg. You can’t live with this. It’s seven 180s in seven legs. A masterclass of scoring from Gary Anderson.”
Performance rubberstamps Anderson as one of the greatest ever
The accolades of the ‘Flying Scotsman’ speak for themselves, but this display along with many others proves why Anderson is one of the most naturally gifted players ever.
His throw is as effortless as it is effective and by his own admission, he does all of this with very little practice.
The world of darts has never been fiercer at the top with the likes of Van Gerwen, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, but Anderson has proved he still has the game to beat any of them.
With a plethora of ranking majors coming up in the back end of 2024, do not be surprised to see Anderson roll back the years and achieve glory on television again.