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Bob Anderson

 

Bob Anderson is amongst the older players on the darts circuit as he was born on 7th November 1947 in Winchester, Hants. Some people believe that he is past his prime as a player but the 59-year-old has no intention of calling it a day. “I know I'm approaching 60 but I've still got a big appetite for the game and I think that has shown in some of my performances, most recently at the world championship.”

He has been a professional for over 15 years and has a stage shirt that he always wears which, as with Bristow, has given him a nickname. The shirt is of cowboy style and one night at a match Sid Waddell called him The Limestone Cowboy. The name stuck and he always plays under that moniker now.

The players walk on to the stage in the World Championships often involves a little showmanship and one of the most memorable walk-on's in world championship history involved Bob, but he isn't claiming the credit for it. "It was nothing to do with me!" says Bob "It was Peter Judge who was the production manager from Sky at the time who came up with the idea. He thought - 'Bob's the Limestone Cowboy so lets get him coming in with a horse'. What Peter didn't know is that I love horses - but unfortunately they don't like me.” "Actually when you look back on it, it was quite dangerous but everything went smoothly and the horse was very well trained, he was an ex-police horse and he knew what he was doing. I think I was more nervous than he was!

Recently Bob appeared on the new series of Bullseye that has just been made with a new host Dave Spikey and referee Tony Green from the original series. Bob was of course the celebrity player throwing for charity. He had 9 darts to score as much as he could and if he beat 300 the charity donation would be doubled. With his first 3 darts he hit 100 but followed it with only 55 and it looked as if would hit a 140 with his last 3 to bring him close, but his last dart bounced out giving him only 235. During the chat he mentioned that he hit his first 180 at the tender age of 7 years old. (If you would like to visit the Bullseye Web-Site click here.)

In his early teens Bob competed with the javelin in the Great Britain Schools Championship where he took the national title. The next year Bob was invited to train for the Mexico Olympics, but a broken arm ended any future in the event. The next sport Bob excelled in was football. He played for Lincoln United, Guildford, Woking and later Farnborough Town. This time his career was cut short in 1970 by a broken leg, but by then he was also competing at darts in Super League games. By 1976 he was playing County games for Wiltshire and in 1981 he won his first major title when he won the C.I.U. National Singles Championship. He did not look back or have any more career ending health problems until 1990 when he had surgery for a back injury. However he made a full recovery and reasserted himself as a major World Class player.

Bob Anderson lives in Clevedon, Somerset with his wife Sally and two children, Jennie and David. At 6 feet 3 inches he is one of the tallest darts players on the professional circuit but he does not have the usual heavy-set build, perhaps because he counts golf as one of his leisure interests. His handicap is a very respectable 6 and he often writes about his golfing exploits along with his darts events in his Web-Site column called “Chin Wag.” You can visit his site by clicking here.

 

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