Bob Anderson (darts player)

Robert Charles Anderson (born 7 November 1947 in Winchester, Hampshire, England) is a retired English professional darts player and former World Champion. He was the World No. 1 player for over three years in the late 1980s. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, he lives in Clevedon in Somerset.

Bob Anderson
Personal information
Full nameRobert Charles Anderson[1]
NicknameThe Limestone Cowboy
Born (1947-11-07) 7 November 1947
Winchester, Hampshire, England
Home townClevedon, Somerset
England
Darts information
Playing darts since1973
Darts24 gram Unicorn Signature (previously 18 gram).
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on musicRhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell Ft. Rikki & Daz preceded by intro to Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1979-1993
PDC1993-2008 (Founding Member)
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipWinner (1) 1988
World MastersWinner (3) 1986, 1987, 1988
World Darts TrophyLast 56: 2007
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipSemi Final: 2004, 2005
World Matchplay3rd Place: 1996
World Grand PrixQuarter Final: 2006
Desert ClassicLast 24 Group: 2003
UK OpenLast 16: 2006
Other tournament wins
Antwerp Open1996
British Gold Cup1983
British Matchplay1988,1989
British Open1987
Canadian Open1990, 1992
Denmark Open1986
Dry Blackthorn Cider Masters1989
League Of Legends2008
League Of Legends Event2009
MFI World Pairs1986
North American Open1993
Pacific Masters1987, 1988, 1989
PDC Samson Darts Classic1993
PDC World Pairs1996
Swedish Open1986
WDF Europe Cup Pairs1990
World Champions Challenge1990

Before darts

Anderson threw his first darts maximum (180) at the age of just seven.[2] However, he was renowned as a champion athlete during his teenage years. He was picked as a javelin thrower in the British Olympic team of 1968, but broke his arm before the team left for Mexico, an injury which brought an end to his javelin-throwing career. He then turned his attention to football - playing to a moderately high standard for Lincoln United, Guildford City, Woking and Farnborough Town. During this time, he had continued to play darts socially and decided to take up the game more seriously when his injury jinx struck again - this time a broken leg in 1970 ended his football career.

Darts success

Anderson had a long and successful darts career, winning the World Professional Championship in 1988 and the Winmau World Masters in 1986, 1987 and 1988 - the first man to win the Masters in three successive years. Only Martin Adams has since emulated this feat by winning the 2008, 2009 and 2010 tournaments (albeit long after the split in darts and in a much weaker field). Anderson won other tournaments during the 1980s, considered darts' most glorious televised era when tournaments were regularly broadcast on BBC and ITV.

Two years after his world title success he underwent surgery to fix a back problem that threatened his darts career. He returned to the game professionally but never reached the same heights he had achieved in the 1980s. Anderson was amongst the players who formed the Professional Darts Corporation - an organisation (originally known as the World Darts Council) which separated from the existing governing body, the British Darts Organisation in 1992/93. Anderson reached the final of the WDC event, the Lada UK Masters, in November 1993 - losing to Mike Gregory.

His world ranking stayed sufficiently high to earn automatic qualification for most major PDC tournaments, and he went on to reach the semi-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship in 2004 and 2005.

In 1996, Anderson won the WDC World Pairs event alongside Phil Taylor. Anderson and Taylor defeated Chris Mason and Steve Raw in the final.

Anderson was also the driving force behind the Bob Anderson Classic, a major darts tournament held every October. The tournament started in 2002 and ran until 2005.

In 2008, Anderson decided to take part in the BetFred League of Legends which was shown live on Setanta Sports and play along with the likes of Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe and Dave Whitcombe. However, in doing so, he was forced to resign from the PDC to take part in the league.[3] He does, however, remain a lifetime member of the PDPA, granted to him because he was a founder member of the WDC (now PDC). Anderson went on the capture the League of Legends title, beating Keith Deller in the final.

World Championship results

BDO

PDC

Performance timeline
Tournament197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008
BDO World Championship Did not participate 1R 2R SF QF W SF 1R SF 2R QF No longer a BDO Member
Winmau World Masters 3R DNQ 2R DNQ QF 4R SF W W W 4R 2R SF 2R No longer a BDO Member
British Professional Not held DNQ 2R QF 1R QF 1R SF Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held SF F 1R W 1R Not held
World Darts Trophy Not held Did not participate RR NH
PDC World Championship Not yet founded QF QF RR RR RR QF 1R 1R 1R 2R SF SF 1R 1R 1R
World Matchplay Not yet founded QF 1R SF QF QF 2R 2R 1R QF 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R DNQ
World Grand Prix Not yet founded 1R RR DNQ 1R 1R 1R QF DNQ
Las Vegas Desert Classic Not yet founded DNQ RR 1R DNQ 1R DNQ
UK Open Not held DNQ 4R 5R 5R 3R DNQ
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament

Outside darts

Bob married Sally Attwater on 8 April 2004 - he chose former World Champion dart player Eric Bristow as his best man. Anderson has two children, Jennie and David. He lists his hobbies as golf - with a handicap of six, and trout fishing. Anderson's sporting hero is golf legend Jack Nicklaus

gollark: *Technically* with a finite amount you'll eventually run out, but advancing technology should mean it would be easy to replace it anyway.
gollark: You don't need to. There's enough uranium.
gollark: We have enough for 70 years of current production available, and the many, many ways to get more or use existing stuff more efficiently have just been ignored because they aren't needed now.
gollark: Uranium is plentiful!
gollark: Subsidies, maybe, or at least taxes on carbon-y fuel stuff.

References
  1. Anderson's full name/wedding certificate Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Anderson's full cv Archived 15 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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