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Gary Anderson is ready to start the year in style at the Ladbrokes Masters this weekend.
The Flying Scotsman, who won back-to-back PDC World Darts Championships in 2015 and 2016, was a losing finalist earlier this month despite insisting that he was well short of his best.
Having now dispelled retirement talk and signed a new deal with Unicorn, Anderson is looking to steadily improve throughout the year and bag a third world title in January of 2022.
However, the Scot has now admitted treating the sport as a hobby rather than a job, has been his biggest downfall throughout his career.
Anderson exclusively told Daily Star Sport : “I’m not one to actually think about pressure.
“Even after I won the worlds I’d done what I had always wanted to do. This is probably my biggest downfall, but I’ve always treated darts as just a hobby.
“Even after everything I’ve won in my career, to me it’s still just a hobby.
“I know it’s my job and my living, but I’ve always treated darts as a game, it’s a hobby.”
The Masters gets underway on Friday, with Anderson playing the winner of Michael Smith and Adrian Lewis in the second round of the competition the following day.
Anderson rose back up to eighth in the world rankings courtesy of his semi-final win over Dave Chisnall at Alexandra Palace, having come through a war of words with former pro Wayne Mardle.
After the Flying Scotsman threatened to walk away from the sport following alleged spoiling tactics from Mensur Suljovic, Mardle suggested that his future opponents do the same to gain an advantage.
Anderson has now said: “We are there to play a game, it’s quite simple. You’ve got to beat the boy in front of you with what you’ve got in your hand, your three darts.
“You’ve got to out score him, out finish him, and that’s it. If he hits 140, you’ve got to hit a 180 and put him under pressure.
“They call it gamesmanship, I just call it cheating. You’re up there to play.
“You wouldn’t get it happening in snooker, and you don’t get others whistling when you go to hit a golf ball.
“I just like playing the game, I class myself as old school and I just like a game of darts the way it’s supposed to be.
“Take Chizzy and Michael van Gerwen at the Worlds, fantastic game, Joe Cullen and Michael, what a cracking game because they just got up there and played darts.
“You start mucking about during the games of darts and it doesn’t only spoil it for the player but also for the people who watch it as well.”
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