Gaz rallies as Scots march on
Gary Anderson admitted he got lucky as Scotland squeezed past Norway to book a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The world champion was on the brink of defeat against Cor Dekker as it went to a deciding leg in Frankfurt last night.
But he hit a sublime 160 f inish with the lanky Norwegian ready to pounce with just 52 left.
Then team-mate Robert Thornton recovered from losing the opening leg of his encounter with Robert Wagner, to reel off four tops finishes to set-up a quarters clash with Belgium today.
Anderson said: “That 160 had to go or I wasn’t coming back to the board and we would have been 1- 0 down.
“Dekker played really well. The short format is so dangerous against any opponent. There are no easy games at this level and I have to admit I was lucky.
“I couldn’t see past him. I like to watch the board when my rival is playing but he’s so tall I couldn’t see the board. It was odd because I couldn’t see what was going on in the game!
“When the game is this short I find it really difficult to get going and get into a rhythm. It’s almost over before I’m even in the swing of the match. But I did just about enough to beat Cor and it’s a relief to be through.”
Thornton believes both of them will have to play better to beat brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts in today’s last-eight clash.
He added: “It was a good result against Norway, who were tough to beat. But we’ll have to step it up a bit against Belgium.
“Kim and Ronny are top class players and won’t miss much. If we don’t go up a level we will be going home, simple as that.”