Dubai: Darts legend Phil Taylor takes on current world and Premier League champion Gary Anderson in the first semi-final of the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters at Dubai Tennis Stadium on Friday.
Taylor beat last year's losing finalist Peter Wright 10-5 in the quarter-final to register his first victory in the emirate, progressing to the latter stages for the first time in three attempts.
Anderson, meanwhile, came back from 8-7 down to beat James Wade 10-8 on his debut in Dubai – the only event on the darts calendar which is played outdoors.
The matchup promises to be an epic with the waning English legend of Taylor up against the emergent Flying Scotsman. Taylor admitted Anderson was the favourite but promised to make him prove that mantle.
“I’ll take Gary head on tomorrow [Friday],” said Taylor. “He may be the favourite but we’ll see how much of a favourite he is – it will be a good game.
“I don’t mind not being the favourite, it will be a cracking game, Gary knows what Phil is like and Phil knows what Gary’s like, so it’s going to be a cracker, so let’s get on with it.”
Anderson said the hot and breezy conditions in Dubai weren’t as bad as he had expected after his debut win in the emirate and added that gave him confidence for the second round.
“The heat is one thing but to be honest it’s not as bad as I thought, I thought I was going to be passing out on stage, but night-time is a lot cooler, it’s a learning curve but I know what to do.
“The breeze is okay if it blows in one direction but it’s when it changes that it catches you out. You throw left if it’s going right but the problem is when it blows right again,” he said of the conditions.
Of his semi-final matchup he added: “Darts has got to the stage now where you could pick 32 players and any one of them can win it, it’s no longer just about Phil Taylor, it’s about Michael Van Gerwen, Aidy Lewis or Raymond Van Barneveld. This tournament is wide open until Phil comes back. I’ve always said he will do and there will be one day he’ll come back soon and we’ll be up against it again.”
