FULL STEAM AHEAD

Flying Scotsman is on track for a crack at his third world title

- BY RICHARD LEWIS

WHEN Gary Anderson steps up to the Ally Pally oche, something inside him changes.

"I cannot tell you what it is," said Anderson. "I get up on that stage, it is the biggest tournament in the world.

"You spend all year trying to get here and, at the end of the day, look what darts has become. A £1m first prize." Anderson, 55, is now just three wins away from banking the biggest cheque the sport has known.

Adam Hunt, Connor Scutt, Jermaine Wattimena and Michael van Gerwen have tried and failed to derail 'The Flying Scotsman'.

But his glory bid remains on track and his combined average for those four wins is 100.34, meaning only Luke Littler (103.69) and Gian van Veen (100.47) - both more than 30 years his junior - have put up better numbers.

But not for one moment, one single throw of a double top, would he be complacent that he can go all the way.

The reason is the player he faces at Alexandra Palace in this afternoon's quarter-final.