GARY ANDERSON joked that he was ready to retire after he defended the European Darts Grand Prix. 

The Flying Scotsman whitewashed Andrew Gilding 8-0 to take the title in Sindelfingen, Germany last night (Sunday).

Ando, 54, beat Rob Cross, Martin Lukeman and Dirk van Duijvenbode before breezing past Gilding in the final. 

He said: “Can I retire now! No, it’s been good. I’ve known Andrew for a long, long time. Very, very good player.

“I’ve known Andrew for a very long time. He is a great dart player.  

“He’ll win something, have a few weeks off, come back and then win something else.  

“We’ve seen so many youngsters come through Gian van Veen, Luke Littler, Luke Humphries.  

“Even just to play darts with these boys I’m still racking myself up with it.  

“Against Martin Lukeman, he is a high class player and will be about for a long time.  

“The game was terrible. I never got going and he never got going.  

“Rob Cross we missed forty thousand darts at double but if darts was an easy game it would be boring.”

Anderson was delighted with the amazing reception he received from the fans in Sindelfingen.   

He added: “I’m a very proud Scotsman and I get a lot of support in Scotland but this has outdone them.  

“This has been absolutely fantastic. It has been a long time since I have got this support.  

“What I have noticed right now is that the fans that have come to watch darts in Germany, Belgium or Austria are fantastic.  

“But what you have got to remember is that these boys are up here playing darts. You have to support them all.  

“Whether you like them or don’t show them all the respect they're up here trying to play a very hard game.  

“So next time they are up here no whistling and they will love you for it.  

“I’m just glad that I can still come and play darts for these boys that are playing now.  

“I have played for 30 years, I played with your Phil Taylors, your Eric Bristows, your Steve Beatons. 

“These youngsters are coming up and darts is in a good place.  

“We’ve got a lot of young Germans coming through and Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English, Italians, French… darts is going to be fantastic in the next five years.”