GARY: I GOT THE FLIGHT OF MY LIFE
Ando admits fear of failure in front of sellout home crowd left him terrified
GARY ANDERSON last night admitted he was terrified by the hair-raising Hydro.
Scotland’s double world champion was given a magnificent welcome back to his homeland as 11,000 fervent fans in Glasgow raised the roof for their favourite son at his Premier League clash with Dave Chisnall.
Anderson didn’t disappoint with a brilliant win but the Musselburgh man was left gasping at the levels of support and reckons it made the night just as big as his Worlds outings at the Alexandra Palace.
He said: “I stood there waiting for the walk-on and the world was going in slow motion.
“The Hydro is like no other feeling, no other venue.
“I love the Ally Pally but this wasn’t for the World Championships, it felt almost more important, it was for my own folk. You get caught up in the swirl of the wall of noise and then I realise it’s my name they are chanting. I try not to think about it too much.
“It’s terrifying and amazing at the same time. I don’t know what is worse, my stomach going like a washing machine or my backside twitching.
“You just tell yourself, I cannot lose this, I just can’t.
“That hypes up the inner pressure. Darts has gone through the roof, the amount of youngsters coming through is amazing.
“We were at the Ashfield Stadium Academy on Wednesday night and the enthusiasm and dedication is just mind-blowing.
“I lost £20 to a seven-year-old at the academy but it was great to meet a kid of just three called the Ginja Ninja, how good is that?
“I reckon he might be in a world final at the Ally Pally with my boy Tai in 2035. I’ll be putting a tenner on that!
“Darts has such a gloomy reputation of smoky halls, like snooker. It’s a pub game.
“Then you look out at the Hydro to almost 11,000. It’s hard to believe where we came from and thankfully the darts flowed for me on Thursday night.
“Afterwards it’s such a relief to come away and know you’ve not let anyone down. Job done.”
As Anderson basked in his home success Dutch ace Raymond van Barneveld also gave a massive thank you to the Hydro. For years, the hero of Holland has had his own Barney Army in Scotland and they were out in force to back him in Glasgow.
Van Barneveld was struggling against Jelle Klaasen and looked set for defeat after a slow start.
But picked up by a few familiar faces in the crowd and the massive audience, the five-times world champion fought back to win.
The roles will be reversed for Anderson in Rotterdam on Thursday night when he faces Barney in his own backyard.
But, although the Scot was the man they all came to see this time around, the Dutchman made sure he thanked the Scottish crowd for helping him get over the line.
Barney said: “I went to Glasgow and said I was going to enjoy it even if I lost 7-1 because the crowd is just so amazing.
“Every week we play at big venues but Scotland is so special to me and I don’t know why.
“They always love me. I saw a couple of people in the crowd that come for me every single year.
“I don’t want to let them down when I play.”