Gary Anderson has opened up on how he wished he had given darts more respect, despite being a two-time world champion.

Anderson, 54 today, will be hoping to celebrate his birthday with a win against Jeffrey de Graaf but feels that he should have taken the sport more seriously in his prime.

“It’s not cocky, but I’ve always just been able to walk up to the dartboard and throw,” he shared. “It’s always come very naturally to me.

“My biggest downfall is that I should have taken it a bit more seriously. It’s always been a bit of a jolly and a laugh for me, a game of darts.

“It’s been a great sport, I’ve seen the world with it and I’ve done alright with it, but I always treat it as more as a hobby than actually my job.”