Anderson sparks World Darts row as ‘off-stage comment’ inspires Dobey to KO two-time champ at Ally Pally
FUMING Chris Dobey claims he was fired-up to beat Gary Anderson following some heated backstage comments.
Hollywood battered the Flying Scotsman 4-1 to make the fourth round where he will face either Rob Cross or Mervyn King on Friday evening.
As they went off for the final TV break, Dobey was angered by an exchange off camera with two-time world darts champion Anderson.
Dobey – who used to be involved in the same management company as Ando – refused to say what was exactly said between them.
Yet the words ended up inspiring Dobey to bash up his former mentor to make the fourth round for the fourth time in five attempts.
Dobey, 32, said: "This means a lot. It was a big win.
read more on sport
"I never give up, that’s the kind of lad I am. I’m always fighting until the end. I’m just delighted to get that win.
"Gary said something to me in the last break and I didn’t like it.
"So there was no way he was winning that game after that. It kind of annoyed us.
"I come out, the man I am and tried to forget about it.
Most read in Sport
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
"He’s a class lad but I didn’t agree with what he said. There was no way he was winning this game.
"I’m not going to say, I’m not going to talk. He said something I didn’t like.
"He’s a class bloke, everybody knows that. I come up here to do one job and made sure I was winning this game.
"The number of times I’ve been in this position. I’m hoping to get over that last 16 step, where I’ve fell the last few years. I’m still in the competition.”
After his earliest exit from Ally Pally for nine years, Anderson refused to speak with the media post-match and made a hasty return to Somerset.
The 52-year-old will now slip out of the world’s top 20 for the first time in 13 years.
And this could cause him plenty of headache in terms of qualifying for the big majors – if, of course, he has the motivation to continue playing at the highest level.