GARY ANDERSON’S shock World Championship exit was because of a shoulder injury sustained cutting down TREES.
The Flying Scotsman saw his third world title hopes axed by Jeffrey de Graaf after delivering his worst performance ever at the Ally Pally on Sunday night.
But Ando’s manager, Tommy Gilmour MBE, revealed that he was playing through the pain barrier during the straight sets defeat.
He said: “It was a bad night in the office. It’s not an excuse because he should be able to win these games.
“For the last week he’s been suffering problems with his shoulder. He was cutting trees at the lake.
“That’s what happens when you have another job and you have to keep everything going.
“He admitted his shoulder was killing him and he was on the painkillers.
“That’s why he was just 15 per cent on his doubles. He’s not been able to reach up to the doubles.
“On the way to the venue he seemed to be OK but obviously it wasn’t right. A player of Gary’s calibre doesn’t only hit 15 per cent on the doubles, I knew something was bothering him.”
Anderson’s exit has stunned the darts world and Gilmour admits that it was a big blow for the double world champ – but he’s far from over in the sport.
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He added: “Gary finished? What a load of b******s, he’s number 12 in the world!
“He was really looking forward to the World Championship. It’s a disaster in a way because he was looking forward to it and had put in some of the work.
“I got a text from him this morning saying ‘I’ll make it up to you at the Masters’.
“I’m going in for a heart operation at some stage over the next couple of weeks.
“I told him after last night, nae wonder I’ve got heart problems. He responded and said he didn’t know I had a heart!
“That’s why I wasn’t down in London for his match but Stephanie was there to represent Dunvegan and look after him.”
Gilmour also finally put an end to the constant Premier League narrative about Anderson by stating he would NEVER play in the event again under the current format.
He said: “He’s got a proper job and that’s keeping him going. He enjoys the balance of his life at his lakes, the family and darts.
“Gary is still very positive about having a good season.
“People are criticising him for not wanting to do the Premier League.
“There is not a chance in this world he would survive another year in darts if he did the Premier League.
“That would mean 17 weeks away constantly, he couldn’t do that.
“If they changed the set-up of the Premier League into two sections, so he could play every fortnight, he would probably look forward to it.
“We promised he could get back to playing Euro tournaments he could get to quite easily.
“He’s a great player and we’re trying to keep him going for as long as he can enjoy it. I don’t want to take that enjoyment out of it for him.
“He’s now more interested in ranking tournaments so he can keep going and not fall away down the order of merit.”
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