Anderson threw his first darts maximum (180) at the age of just seven, with brass darts with feather flights.[2] He became a champion athlete during his teenage years, and was selected as a javelin thrower for the British Olympic team of 1968, however, broke his arm before the team left for Mexico, an injury which ended his javelin-throwing career.[2] 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.[2]
Anderson's career peaked in 1988 when winning the World Professional Championship. He took on John Lowe in the final and won 6-4 in sets, posting a 92.7 average, and winning £16,000.[2]
He won the Winmau World Masters in 1986, 1987 and 1988 – the first man to win the Masters in three successive years.[3][2]
Two years after his world title success, Anderson 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 late 80's. However, in 1992, he was chosen as the captain of England, which was one of his proudest moments in darts.[2]
In 1996, Anderson won the WDC World Pairs event alongside Phil Taylor.[2] Anderson and Taylor defeated Chris Mason and Steve Raw in the final.[3]
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.[3]
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.[citation needed]
Bob married Sally Attwater on 8 April 2004.[4] 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,[2] and fishing.[2] Anderson lives in the Somerset sea-side resort town of Clevedon.[4]
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