GARY ANDERSON is aiming to pick up his first World Series of Darts triumph when he competes in the Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters this weekend.
The World Champion and Premier League champion made his World Series of Darts debut a month ago when he reached the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters, losing out to Phil Taylor in that event.
Anderson will be competing in Japan for the first time when the inaugural tournament at the Osanbashi Hall in Yokohama takes place on Saturday and Sunday.
The world number three will face a Japanese opponent in Saturday's first round, with the potential for a further three games on Sunday if he is to claim victory in the World Series of Darts event.
"It would be a fantastic tournament to win and I'll be giving it my best shot," said Anderson, who is joined by the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor amongst an eight-strong PDC contingent in Yokohama.
"Playing in Dubai was a new experience for me and this will be another because I've never been to Japan before, and it's shaping up to be a great event.
"A few of the Japanese players have played in the World Championship and World Cup for the last few years and you can see that their standard's improving, so we'll all have to be on our guard in the first round.
"If we can get through that then Sunday will be a tough day because it will be three big matches, but I'm looking forward to it."
Anderson linked up with leading Japanese duo Haruki Muramatsu - who holds a PDC Tour Card - and Morihiro Hashimoto at the recent bwin World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, and has been impressed by the development of some of the sport's emerging nations.
"The Japanese boys played well in the World Cup and they reached the quarter-finals a couple of years ago too, so this event will be massive for all of the eight players who've qualified and it shows how big darts is getting worldwide now," adds Anderson.
"Peter Wright and myself came up against Singapore and Hong Kong too in the World Cup, and I was very impressed by Royden Lam and Scott MacKenzie in particular.
"It's great seeing the new nations producing players now and getting opportunities to play against the top players."
Tickets for the Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters are still available and can be purchased via www.pdj.co.jp.