Bob Anderson (darts player)
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| Bob Anderson | ||
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| Personal information | ||
| Full name | Robert Charles Anderson[1] | |
| Nickname | The Limestone Cowboy | |
| Date of birth | November 7, 1947 | |
| Place of birth | Winchester, Hampshire, England | |
| Home town | Clevedon, Somerset, England | |
| Darts information | ||
| Playing darts since | {{{since}}} | |
| Darts | 18grm Unicorn Signature. | |
| Walk-on music | Rhinestone Cowboy (Glen Campbell) | |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | ||
| BDO | 1973 to 1993, 2008 - | |
| PDC | 1993 - 2008 | |
| Current World Ranking | 31 (October 2007) | |
| BDO Grand Slam Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Winner 1988 | |
| World Masters | Winner 1986, 1987, 1988 | |
| World Darts Trophy | Last 56, 2007 | |
| PDC Majors - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Semi Final 2004, 2005 | |
| World Matchplay | SF 1996 | |
| World Grand Prix | QF 2006 | |
| UK Open | Last 16, 2006 | |
| Desert Classic | Last 32, 2004, 2006 | |
| Other Televised PDC events - Best Performances | ||
| Other Tournament Wins | ||
| Tournament | Years | |
| BDO World Matchplay World Pairs |
1987[citation needed] 1986 (BDO), 1995 (PDC) |
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Bob Anderson (born November 7, 1947, Winchester, Hampshire, England) is a former world darts champion. He was ranked as world number one for over three years in the late 1980s. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, he lives in Clevedon in Somerset.
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[edit] 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 tragically 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, 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.
[edit] Darts Success
Anderson has 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 only man to win the Masters in three successive years.
He also had tremendous success during the 1980s - considered darts` most glorious televised era. Tournaments were regularly broadcast on BBC and ITV and Anderson was successful in several televised events.
However, just two years after his World title success, he underwent surgery to fix a back problem which threatened his darts career. He returned to the game professionally, but never managed to eclipse the success he enjoyed during the 1980s.
Anderson was amongst the players who joined the Professional Darts Corporation - an organisation (originally known as the WDC - World Darts Council) which separated from the existing governing body, the British Darts Organisation in 1992/93. Anderson reached the final of the first ever WDC event, the Lada UK Classic - losing to Mike Gregory. He also lost to Neil Parker.
His world ranking has stayed sufficiently high to earn automatic qualification for most major PDC tournaments, and has gone on to reach the semi-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship in 2004 and 2005. Anderson himself said that he is probably a better player now than when he first won the title.[citation needed]
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.
[edit] Outside Darts
Bob married Sally Attwater on April 8, 2004 - he chose darts legend 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.
