Veteran darts player Gary Anderson has launched a scathing attack on the sport's younger generation, branding them "boring" and criticising their constant phone use.
The two-time world champion expressed his frustration following his first-round triumph at the World Matchplay.
"Youngsters are boring. Absolutely boring," Anderson declared. "You talk to them, they're too busy looking at their phone.
"They're sitting on their phones with their bloody earphones in. Don't talk to you. It's a completely different life.
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|Gary Anderson expressed his frustration with the modern generation of darting stars
"I was sitting thinking the other day, having a talk with [Ian] White, [Adrian] Lewis, [Phil] Taylor, [Kevin] Painter, we used to sit and have a cracking laugh.
"Nowadays, I'd rather sit like this. Nobody talks to anybody. You don't have a good laugh, you don't have a bit of banter.
"You need to have a laugh. Doesn't matter what you do in life, on a building site, office, you've always got to have a laugh. Nowadays, there's not much of that going about."
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|The two-time world champion cruised through to the second round after his 10-5 victory over Luke Woodhouse
Anderson did acknowledge the pressure on young players, explaining: "The youngsters, they're here to do their job. They've realised they've got a great chance in life to make a lot of bloody money, buy their first house, then their second house."
Despite understanding their professional mindset, the veteran competitor urged the new generation to find better balance: "But they need to calm down and think: right, this is my job. That's it."
The sport has experienced unprecedented growth, with current world champion Luke Littler leading a wave of young talent attracting record audiences and prize money.
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The 54-year-old Scotsman's comments came after defeating Luke Woodhouse 10-5 on Sunday at Blackpool's Winter Gardens, and will now face Stephen Bunting in the second round.
After his first-round victory, Anderson acknowledged his career is nearing its end, telling the supportive crowd: "I've not got many years left, I'm just soaking it in."
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|The Scotsman admitted after his win that he hasn't 'got many years left'
His victory came as several seeded players fell early in the tournament.
Defending champion Luke Humphries and 2023 winner Nathan Aspinall both fell to defeat in the first round, with Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall all following them out the exit door.
Meanwhile, Luke Littler demonstrated the new generation's prowess with a commanding 10-2 victory over Ryan Searle, averaging over 108.
The 18-year-old world champion exemplifies the modern era that Anderson criticised, having already accumulated substantial earnings since his breakthrough eighteen months ago.