Gary Anderson threatens to RETIRE after accusing Mensur Suljovic of ‘joke’ gamesmanship and putting darts on wrong table

ANGRY Gary Anderson accused defeated Mensur Suljovic of deliberate slow play and placing his darts on the WRONG drinks table.

And in the sport’s version of Watergate, the Scotsman threatened to QUIT the sport if he felt he was ever subjected to similar “joke” gamesmanship tactics.

Though the Flying Scotsman eventually prevailed 4-3 in this third-round Grudge Match, he left Ally Pally in a right old hump, fuming with his opponent for taking his time at the oche.

Pre-match Suljovic accidentally put his arrows case on the table that had been allocated for Anderson – Covid rules meant they could not switch back.

In an explosive TV interview, the 50-year-old blasted: “Absolutely dire, absolute joke of a game. Everyone says: ‘Why do you get cheesed off with darts?’ Well, that’s one of the reasons.

“For a start, we were told what tables we were on and I ended up on the wrong table for the duration of the game.

“Mensur went to the wrong table. I had to bite the bullet and get on with it.

I just want to play darts. I’m sure there are 90 per cent of folk watching at home, they probably turned over and watched Coronation Street or something – I’d have done."

Gary Anderson

“You’re walking past the table you should be at, but you’ve got to cut across because the boy’s standing there.

“The next minute you go across he’s not there. What have you to do? My head was gone after the first set. I’d lost the plot.

“I nicked it at the end, I don’t know how but if that’s how darts is going then I’m done – I’m away for a game of golf or something. I’m not going through that again.

“Did you watch the last set? Or the third set? Was he slow then? No.

“I just want to play darts. I’m sure there are 90 per cent of folk watching at home, they probably turned over and watched Coronation Street or something – I’d have done.

“I just want to throw darts and if you get spanked, the boy’s been better than you and beaten you. But that’s a load of tripe.”

Anderson conceded beforehand that he loves Suljovic as a bloke but simply hates playing him.

The Vienna-based star is the slowest player in the world’s top 20, tapping each arrow in a quirky manner with two fingers.

It’s Suljovic’s methodical rhythm which got into Ando’s head, especially in an awful first set.

Ando had a routine of swigging from his water bottle while Suljovic was throwing and it initially worked as he knocked out two Bull finishes on 130 and then the 73 set-clincher against the throw.

At times, Anderson lost his concentration and started chuntering to himself in desperation.

And as Suljovic sped up to win SIX legs in a row to lead 3-2, the Scot’s temper came close to boiling over.

Yet Anderson then composed himself, won SIX legs in a row, including a brilliant 156 outshot, to book a Last 16 spot on Wednesday against either Jason Lowe or Devon Petersen.

It is not the first time he has been unhappy about the dark arts of darts, accusing Czech kid Adam Gawlas of “snarking” and “sniffing” at November’s Grand Slam of Darts.

Given that his car broke down on the motorway on Boxing Day, Anderson made sure that he did not suffer a second breakdown in three days.

Meanwhile, No3 seed GERWYN PRICE came through an extremely tough examination against Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan that went to a sudden-death shootout.

The Welshman hit the Big Fish of 170 in his hard-fought 4-3 triumph as he reached the Last 16 for just the second time in his career.