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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.” 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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