Gary Anderson is relishing his latest showdown against Michael van Gerwen on Tuesday evening, as the two darting icons go head-to-head for a place in the knockout stages of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts.
The pair will lock horns in a decisive Group G encounter at WV Active Aldersley tonight, with the winner set to advance to Round Two alongside Germany’s Niko Springer.
Anderson has never suffered a group stage exit in his 16 previous Grand Slam appearances, and the Scottish stalwart will be desperate to preserve that remarkable record against his great rival Van Gerwen.
“It’s going to be a tough one, but I’m looking forward to it,” insisted Anderson, a Grand Slam runner-up in 2011 and 2018.
“You know what kind of game you’re going to get with Michael. We’ll be rolling back the years by about a decade!
“We used to bring the best out of each other, a long time ago!
“Michael’s been struggling for a couple of years now, but he can still chuck a dart!”
Anderson succumbed 5-3 to Springer in his opening round-robin game on Saturday, before opening his Group G account with a thrilling deciding-leg success against Beau Greaves.
Greaves was edged out in a decider by Van Gerwen on Saturday’s opening day, and history repeated itself against Anderson, despite the Doncaster darter producing an average of 102.46 – the highest ever produced by a female player in a PDC televised event.
“Beau is absolutely brilliant, isn’t she?” added Anderson, who was effusive in his praise of the two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion.
“I pulled out just about every stop I had in the bag to win that game. She’s going to cause so much trouble on the circuit next year.
“She’s the best female player I’ve seen. I know Fallon [Sherrock] is a great player, and there’s Lisa [Ashton], but Beau is a wee bit different.”
Anderson has celebrated victory on the European Tour and Players Championship circuit this year, although he’s yet to translate that success to the biggest stages in 2025, with his best televised display resulting in a quarter-final showing at last month’s World Grand Prix.
However, having stormed through to the semi-finals in Wolverhampton 12 months ago, Anderson still harbours aspirations of lifting the coveted Eric Bristow Trophy next weekend.
“I play darts. I like playing darts,” continued the two-time World Champion.
“Sometimes they go great, and sometimes they really don’t go well, but that’s part and parcel of it.
“I’ve been lucky a few times this year and I’ve also been unlucky at times. It comes and goes.
“It’s getting tougher and tougher now. After the next five years, I don’t think you’re going to have one player dominating darts, because there’s going to be so many good dart players.
“These youngsters are something else – they’re as sharp as a knife. It’s brilliant to see.”
