Gary Anderson gives hilarious response to ‘bottled’ nine-darter at World Darts Championship

Gary Anderson had the Ally Pally crowd on strings as he almost drilled the 2026 World Darts Championship’s first nine-darter.

The Scotsman was made to work by Dutch rival Jermaine Wattimena in a classic encounter as he missed opportunities to seal a quick 4-1 win, with the enthralling clash ending 4-3.

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Wattimena charged back and the thriller left Anderson – who won 18 legs to his rival’s 16 – in need of a lie-down.

The pair who met in round three in 2018 also played out a dime of a game, which had the same score and result.

But Anderson joked with talkSPORT it wasn’t too good for his health.

He laughed: “You were getting flashbacks? I was getting palpitations, never mind flashbacks. But, no, good game.

“Like I say, I had chances that were on and I bottled it.”

That wasn’t the only thing he missed as he failed to finish off a tantalising nine-darter that had the crowd – and Wattimena in awe.

“No, I bottled it,” he laughed.

“I would say the real word for it, but we can’t say it on talkSPORT. Something to do with something the bed.”

“I think we can fill in the blanks,” joked reporter Ian Danter.

Anderson crashed in a 102.24 average to win, but recognised just how hard Wattimena fought to take him all the way.

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“My first game was a bit iffy. I got 105 on the second game, but I missed a lot of doubles as well, didn’t I?

“So if the doubles can tighten up a bit and the scoring at the same time, which we all wish, then, yeah, it’s going to be more than that.”

He added: “At the start of the match, Jermaine’s scoring was phenomenal. He was – bang 180, I think he had about 3-4, 180s in the first set, I believe.

“I thought, well, yeah, if he keeps going then we’re in trouble. I always believe you start off bad and then pick up towards the end.

“Jermaine plays at a nice pace, I like it. But if I do it from the word go, I’m going to be done after about three sets, so just take a bit of time and have a look at what you’re hitting.

“But no, we got it done. But like I say, the doubles to win it early, yeah, I bottled it.”

Next up for Anderson is a last 16 showdown against either Michael van Gerwen or Arno Merk, who face each other in Sunday’s evening session.