Gary Anderson is bidding to become just the second man to win a third PDC World Championship title and having survived a huge scare in an epic third-round contest, the Scot could be poised to create more darting history, writes Josh Gorton.
Since bursting on to the scene in the early 2000s, Anderson's mercurial talent was always abundantly clear, but there were genuine concerns about whether he'd ever fulfil his obvious potential.
'The Flying Scotsman' initially plied his trade on the BDO circuit, but despite winning a host of ranking events, he consistently struggled to deliver at the World Championships.
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Anderson suffered first-round exits in five of his eight Lakeside appearances, with his run to the semi-finals in 2003 the anomaly with regards to his inexplicably poor record at Frimley Green.
He threw his darts in the lake at the Lakeside on several occasions in sheer frustration at failing to produce the goods on the biggest stage, which appears unthinkable given his sustained success in the PDC.
Nevertheless, it merely illustrates that the Scot's ascent to the summit of world darts has been anything but serene.
Anderson crossed the darting divide in 2009 and almost a decade on from switching to the PDC, the Scot has established himself as a modern great of the game. You feel there's still more to come.
However, Anderson wasn't an unknown quantity prior to his PDC switch. In 2007, he thrashed Phil Taylor 7-3 in sets to win the cross-code World Darts Trophy; averaging over 103 in the process.
His class was undeniable, but he made an underwhelming start to life on the PDC circuit, before storming to the World Championship final in 2011, where he succumbed to Adrian Lewis in a classic encounter.
Anderson then exacted revenge by defeating Lewis to lift the 2011 Premier League crown, although this didn't spark the initial era of domination that many predicted.
The Musselburgh ace endured some tough times away from the oche and was relegated from the 2013 Premier League, before slipping outside the world's top 16 later that year.
However, in the face of adversity, Anderson rebuilt his career before it all clicked in 2015.
Having won the 2014 Players Championship Finals, the Scot defeated Phil Taylor 7-6 to clinch his maiden World Championship crown in a gripping affair at Alexandra Palace.
Just months later, Anderson won his second Premier League title with victory over Michael van Gerwen, before retaining his World Championship crown in comprehensive fashion; landing a nine-darter along the way.
Since then, 'The Flying Scotsman' has remained among the world's elite; winning maiden titles at the UK Open, World Matchplay and the Champions League of Darts in a trophy-laden 2018.
Anderson's thrilling Winter Gardens triumph against Mensur Suljovic saw him complete the coveted 'triple crown', joining Taylor and Van Gerwen as a winner of the World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay.
The 47-year-old is arguably in the best form of his career and as a consequence, he's highly-fancied to win his third World Championship in five years on New Year's Day.
He recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory over Kevin Burness in his opener, before edging out Jermaine Wattimena in arguably one of the games of the tournament.
'The Flying Scotsman' led 3-1, before Wattimena levelled at three sets apiece after Anderson spurned five match darts.
The Dutchman led 2-0 in the decider, but missed the bull for a spectacular 170 checkout to seal victory, and Anderson won five of the last six legs to prevail in an electrifying 35-leg contest lasting just 52 minutes and 12 seconds.
You would be forgiven for believing that Anderson would be in bullish mood after such a reprieve, but he remained completely level-headed.
"It's getting harder and harder to keep winning nowadays with the standard of players around, but I'm still going," Anderson quipped.
"This is one of those tournaments where anything could happen but I'm going to give it my best to win title number three."
Many of darts' greatest champions possess the aura and arrogance befitting their status, although Anderson's self-effacing demeanour contradicts that stereotype.
Following Taylor's retirement after last year's tournament, combined with the impending retirement of five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, Anderson is one of the few remaining 'old school' stars.
The Scot was embroiled in a tempestuous Grand Slam of Darts Final against Gerwyn Price last month, and it's no secret that Anderson isn't a fan of Price's boisterous celebrations.
Anderson insists he relishes showdowns against his old rival Van Gerwen, because there's no gamesmanship, no antics, just world-class arrows played at an electric pace.
The pair are undeniably the two best players in world darts at present, but they're scheduled to meet in the semi-finals, with Anderson seeded fourth at Alexandra Palace.
This is largely because Anderson hasn't featured on the European Tour circuit for two years, opting instead to spend more time with his young family and manage the gruelling schedule accordingly.
Anderson's family-orientated nature is another reason behind his huge popularity, and he credits his family with changing his outlook and making darts secondary.
Despite this, Anderson's silverware spree shows little sign of halting, as he eyes darts' holy grail for a third time, which would cap off the greatest year of his illustrious career.
The strength in depth of the sport is evidenced by the fact that we've seen six different winners in seven ranking televised events in 2018, but Van Gerwen and Anderson remain the men to beat.
They've won four of the last five World Championship titles between them but, with the Scot having already registered three televised wins over 'The Green Machine' this year, could we be about to witness another seismic moment in the career of Gary Anderson?
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