Bob Anderson (darts player)

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Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson at the 1985 Winmau World Masters Quarterfinal (cropped-J1).jpg
Anderson at the 1985 World Masters Quarterfinal v John Lowe
Personal information
Full nameRobert Charles Anderson [1]
Nickname"The Limestone Cowboy"
Born (1947-11-07) 7 November 1947 (age 77)
Winchester, England
Home town Clevedon, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1973
Darts24 gram Unicorn Signature (previously 18 gram)
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1979–1993
PDC 1993–2008 (Founding Member)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship Winner (1) 1988
World Masters Winner (3) 1986, 1987, 1988
World Trophy Last 56: 2007
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship Semi Final: 2004, 2005
World Matchplay 3rd Place: 1996
World Grand Prix Quarter Final: 2006
UK Open Last 16: 2006
Desert Classic Last 24 Group: 2003
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 24: 2022
World MatchplayLast 16: 2022
World MastersLast 16: 2022
Other tournament wins
Antwerp Open1996
British Gold Cup1983, 1986
British Matchplay1988,1989
British Open1987
Canadian Open1990, 1992
Denmark Open1986
Dry Blackthorn Cider Masters1989
Jersey Festival of Darts1986
League of Legends2008
League of Legends Event2009
MFI World Pairs1986
North American Open1993
Pacific Masters1987, 1988, 1989
PDC Samson Darts Classic1993
PDC World Pairs1996
Swedish Open1986
WDF Europe Cup Pairs1990
World Champions Challenge1990
Bob Anderson v John Lowe at the Winmau World Masters 1985 Quarter Final John Lowe Bob Anderson.jpg
Bob Anderson v John Lowe at the Winmau World Masters 1985 Quarter Final

Robert Charles Anderson (born 7 November 1947) is an English former professional darts player who won the 1988 BDO World Darts Championship. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, He was the World No. 1 player for over three years in the late 1980s.

Contents

Before darts

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]

Darts success

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]

Anderson was amongst the players who formed the Professional Darts Corporation – an organisation (originally known as the World Darts Council) which separated from the existing governing body, the British Darts Organisation in 1992–93. Anderson reached the final of the first WDC event, the Lada UK Masters, in November 1993 – losing to Mike Gregory. [3]

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 ]

In 2008, Anderson took part in the BetFred League of Legends which was shown live on Setanta Sports, to play along with the likes of Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, and Dave Whitcombe. Anderson went on the capture the League of Legends title in 2008, beating Keith Deller in the final. [2]

Outside darts

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]

World Championship results

BDO

[3]

PDC

[3]

WSDT

[3]

Performance timeline

[3]

Tournament197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008
BDO World Championship Did not participate 1R 2R SF QF W SF 1R SF 2R QF No longer a BDO Member
Winmau World Masters 3R DNQ 2R DNQ QF 4R SF W W W 4R 2R SF 2R No longer a BDO Member
British Professional Not heldDNQ 2R QF 1R QF 1R SF Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held SF F 1R W 1R Not held
World Darts Trophy Not heldDid not participate RR NH
PDC World Championship Not yet founded QF QF RR RR RR QF 1R 1R 1R 2R SF SF 1R 1R 1R
World Matchplay Not yet founded QF 1R SF QF QF 2R 2R 1R QF 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R DNQ
World Grand Prix Not yet founded 1R RR DNQ 1R 1R 1R QF DNQ
Las Vegas Desert Classic Not yet foundedDNQ RR 1R DNQ 1R DNQ
UK Open Not heldDNQ 4R 5R 5R 3R DNQ
Performance Table Legend
DNPDid not play at the eventDNQDid not qualify for the eventNYFNot yet founded#Rlost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finalsSFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament

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References

  1. ↑ Anderson's full name/wedding certificate Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Team Unicorn - Bob Anderson". unicorn-darts.com. 28 August 2017. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Bob Anderson Results and Statistics". dartsdatabase.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Where did 40 years go ! 1983 Gold Cup singles winner ! — with Bob "The Limestone Cowboy" Anderson fans page and Bob Anderson Darts". Sally Anderson at facebook.com. 9 December 2023.
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