Dubai Duty Free Darts player guide: Gary Anderson

Nickname The Flying Scotsman

Date of birth December 22 1970

Home town Burnham-on-Sea, England

Darts used 23g Unicorn

PDC Order of Merit 3rd (at February 23 2015)

Twitter @GaryAnderson180

The new World Champion, Gary joined an exclusive band of players to have won darts’ most prestigious title with his narrow 7-6 win over Phil Taylor at Alexandra Palace on January 4 – marking his name down amongst the sport’s greats.

Also one of only five players to have been victorious in Premier League Darts over the past decade, Anderson shot to prominence by winning the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy titles in Holland in 2007.

He joined the PDC circuit two years later and would reach major finals at the 2010 UK Open and 2011 World Championship before lifting the Premier League title, gaining revenge over Adrian Lewis for his previous loss at Alexandra Palace.

Anderson also reached the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts final, losing out to great rival Taylor, before enjoying a renaissance in his career during 2014 as he returned to the sport’s elite top eight before capping an incredible 12 months with World Championship glory.

Having dropped out of the world's top 16, Anderson won seven ProTour titles before being victorious in the Players Championship Finals at the end of November, and he backed that up by going all the way at Alexandra Palace.

The year 2014 also saw Anderson reach the semi-finals of the Premier League - having finished at the bottom of the standings in the previous two seasons - and make the last four at the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix.

One of the sport's most naturally gifted throwers and a seemingly effortless hitter of 180s, Anderson is making his World Series of Darts debut in 2015.