Playing on the World Seniors Tour has given John Henderson a new lease of life – but he still has unfinished business on the PDC circuit.
Huntly’s Henderson has enjoyed a stellar 2024 winning the World Seniors Championship, the World Seniors Matchplay and the World Seniors Masters.
The Highlander, a former World Cup of Darts winner, dropped off the PDC tour in November 2022 but became eligible to compete in seniors events last year after turning 50.
He has also been competing in Modus Super Series events, on the Challenge Tour and remains in high demand for exhibitions.
Henderson is planning to play in Q-School in January to try to return to the PDC ranks, but isn’t putting the same pressure on himself as in the past.
Reflecting on the last 12 months he said: “It’s been a very busy year and I’ve been playing well.
“I’ve had a great year, I’ve won a few titles and looking back 2024 has been a very successful year for me.
“When I lost my PDC tour card I did think ‘where do I go from here?’
“But I sat down with my wife and my manager and we had a really good chat about the options available to me.
“I was turning 50 so the Seniors Tour was an option. My first year wasn’t very good playing in the Seniors tournaments, but this year has been really good and I’ve won the three big events.
“Winning any title means a lot to me – even winning a title in Huntly would mean a lot to me.
“But to win the World Championship, World Matchplay and Masters has been fantastic.
“The Seniors Tour has been really good for me and it’s given me the belief that I can win tournaments.”
PDC targets
Henderson played in the PDC for 12 years and was a regular at tournaments like the World Championship, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix.
He also reached the final of a European Tour event and made multiple semi-finals in Pro Tour Players Championship competitions.
In 2021 Henderson teamed up with Peter Wright to win the World Cup for Scotland and, despite his achievements, he still feels he has unfinished business in the PDC.
The Highlander added: “My game is in a good place and I’m going to give Q-School a go again.
“There’s not as much pressure on me because I know the options available to me if I don’t get back on the PDC tour.
“But I want to get back on the PDC tour because I think I’ve still got the game to compete.
“It is hard because the standard is so high, but I want to get back to competing on the PDC circuit.
“I believe I’ve still got the game to compete, I never managed to win a Pro Tour event which is something I feel is missing from my CV.
“Yes I won the World Cup with Peter, but I would have liked to win something on my own in the PDC.
“So if I could get back on tour that’s something I’d like to try to achieve.”
Henderson backs Anderson for World Championship push
John Henderson believes Gary Anderson has what it takes to win his third World Darts Championship.
The annual darting bonanza at Alexandra Palace gets under way on Sunday with world number one Luke Humphries aiming to defend his crown.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler, who reached the final a year ago aged 16, is also fancied in many quarters to go one better this time around.
However, Scotland’s Anderson – the winner at Ally Pally in 2015 and 2016 – has also impressed this year.
The Flying Scotsman has won two Pro Tour Players Championship events, a European Tour tournament and reached the semi-final of the Grand Slam last month.
Looking ahead to the World Championship Henderson, who played in the event on nine occasions between 2012 and 2021, said: “I think it’s wide open.
“Luke Humphries has played really well all year, Luke Littler has done really well and I also think Gary Anderson will be there or thereabouts.
“In the majors it’s been hard to predict this year. Mike De Decker won the Grand Prix and Ritchie Edhouse won the European Championship which people wouldn’t have expected.
“It’s been a crazy season really. Being Scottish I think we’d all like Gary to win his third world title and he’s playing well enough to do it.
“If somebody is going to stop it being Luke v Luke in the final I think it will be Gary.”
New audience for darts
Henderson believes there has been a changing of the guard at the top of darts and believes the emergence of Littler and the interest he has generated has been a great thing for the sport.
This week he was nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Young Sports Personality of the Year.
Henderson added: “Luke Littler has brought a totally new audience to darts.
“I know some people maybe felt it was the same players winning all the time, the same players always in the Premier League and things like that.
“But since Luke has come along you now see on social media and hear about so many kids playing darts, 10-year-olds hitting 180s, 12-year-olds hitting 11-darters and things like that.
“Luke’s generated so much interest in darts and inspired young people to go and play.
“Being nominated for Sports Personality of the year and Young Sports Personality of the year shows the impact he’s made.
“The impact Luke has made can only benefit darts. Back in the day people didn’t play darts until they were able to go to the pub.
“Now it’s all changed, you don’t need to be 18 to start playing darts in a pub. There are youth academies and so many kids are playing, it helps with their maths at school and the whole thing is very beneficial to darts.
“The sport is only going to get bigger.”
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