ANDO BEATS BUG AND BEATON
24/11/2023 By Phil Lanning
GARY ANDERSON joked he might need some CALPOL after winning his Players Championship opener despite a heavy cold.
The two-time world champion managed to grind out a 6-5 deciding leg win over Steve Beaton last night (Friday).
Anderson, 52, was clearly struggling with a bug but managed to get past the ex-Lakeside champ.
He said: “I got there in the end and scraped it. I’m happy with the way my darts are going, I can’t complain.
“I wasn’t expecting to play well tonight and I sneaked it. Tomorrow I might need some Calpol to get through it.
“The last few years I’ve not played darts, people never believe me that I wasn’t playing.
“But playing with Ryan (Searle) since last January, it’s come on leaps and bounds.
“The way Luke is playing and the way he won it, I don’t think anyone got close to him over the longer format.
“There’s the young whipper snapper and the old bloke next to him!”
MICHAEL SMITH’S tough build up to his world title defence continued at the Players Championship.
The world No.1 was dumped out 6-3 by Richard Veenstra in Minehead.
Smith, 33, delivered a Jekyll and Hyde display after missing double 12 for a perfect leg but only averaged 85 as the Dutchman took a shock win.
LUKE HUMPHRIES came from 4-2 down to beat Martin Lukeman 6-5. CHRIS DOBEY ended Raymond van Barneveld’s hopes with a comfortable 6-3 win. GERWYN PRICE smashed Ricky Evans 6-0 and MICHAEL VAN GERWEN beat Callan Rydz 6-3.
Images by Taylor Lanning.
