Gary Anderson explains why Luke Littler is ‘not the main man’ in darts | Other | Sport
Gary Anderson has explained why he believes Luke Humphries is the “main man” in darts rather than Luke Littler. Both Anderson and Littler have reached the semi-final of the World Darts Championship, with the matches taking place on Friday night at Alexandra Palace.
Anderson defeated Justin Hood 5-2 in his quarter-final match earlier this week, and will take on Gian van Veen in his semi-final match. Littler, meanwhile, will face Ryan Searle with a place in Saturday’s final up for grabs, which would be a third in a row for the teenager.
Littler is still looking to defend the title he won last year, when he was just 17 years old at the time. Now 18, Littler remains the favourite to be world champion for what would be the second time in his young career.
Even though Littler has reached the last three World Darts Championship finals and is the defending champion, Anderson believes that 2024 champion Humphries is still the “main man” in the sport. “It doesn’t make any difference,” Anderson said when asked if his experience in winning the tournament twice in the past will give him an advantage. “Luke Littler, the man is phenomenal, it’s as simple as that.
“Luke Humphries to me is still the man though, because he spent the last two years defending his money, and he’s still sitting in number two. He’s only just lost his number one spot.”
“So now after this year, young Mr Littler has got it all to do, and we’ll see how that goes. Littler, he’s fantastic, but to me, Humphries is right up there, if not at the top.”
Humphries was knocked out by Van Veen in the quarter-final stages and would have faced Anderson in the semi-final had he progressed to the next round. Anderson will now face Van Veen in the semi-final at Alexandra Palace, as he strives to win his third title and his first since 2016.
Anderson, 55, went on to explain what he believes is his “downfall” in his career despite being a two-time world champion. “Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler. To me, they’re the players, I call them greedy,” Anderson said.
“It’s not that they want to win, they need to win because they’re that good. It just keeps them going. ‘I’m going to win this, I’m going to win that’. I’ve never been like that. That’s my downfall. You come, you play, you take what’s given to you and that’s it.”
Anderson added: “But at the same time, I’ve had a good life, I’ve got things outside of darts, which I love to bits. I’ve enjoyed life. I’ve not spent all my days at a dartboard.
“I’ve went out and done things, seen places. Through darts, I’ve seen places. But I’ve got my lakes, I work hard at my lakes. I’ve got the kids, they’ve got gymnastics, football, darts, whatever. So, if I was away all that time, that wouldn’t happen. So I don’t regret one little bit of it.
“The time just flies past. so to get home and spend time with your family, that’s the most important thing. This is all just like a fairytale, a job that you get to see the world and you do okay on, but at the end of the day, family, friends, you’ve got your bubble. That’s all you look after.”
