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Treble-chasing Anderson
- Updated: January 2, 2017
Michael van Gerwen has taken most of the headlines, but we take a closer look as Gary Anderson chases a place alongside the legends of the darts world.
MVG’s record-breaking World Championship average and all-conquering 25-title 2016 are threatening to be the stories of the 2017 William Hill World Darts Championship, but Anderson is closing in on a special feat all of his own.
As is his way, the Flying Scotsman has gone about his business in quiet, efficient and brilliant fashion, form that has taken him to the brink of a third successive world title – and a place in the tungsten pantheon of greats.
Only the legendary darting figures of Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor have achieved the feat, Bristow setting the benchmark in the mid-1980s before his protege Taylor rewrote the history books by pulling off the extraordinary feat of eight successive titles before a two-year hiatus preceded another treble.
Some have come close, but not as close as Anderson stands on Monday as we take a look…..
The History Makers
Eric Bristow (1984-86)
The Crafty Cockney set the benchmark for all those who were to follow with his early domination of the BDO World Championship, then the sport’s only code.
Bristow’s treble could have come four years earlier, having claimed his first two titles in 1980 and 1981 at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on Trent before a surprise first round exit at the hands of Steven Brennan in 1982.
Bristow returned in 1983 to lose the final at the hands of a fresh-faced Keith Deller before claiming his treble on his next three visits, beating Dave Whitcombe 7-1 in 1984 to set the ball rolling before renewing rivalries with old nemesis John Lowe.
Having beaten the Gentleman in 1981, Bristow repeated the feat in 1985 with a 6-2 triumph to claim back-to-back titles and set up the chance to make history in 1986.
A trio of Welshman (Alan Evans, Malcolm Davies and Peter Locke) were dispatched for the loss of just one set before Bristow emerged triumphant from a semi-final …
