Gary Anderson takes the first Players Championship of the year, and Adrian Lewis records a 9 dart finish at Barnsley Metrodome; Anderson Wins Third Title Of The Year GARY ANDERSON won his third title of the year after taking the first Players Championship of 2014 following a thrilling 6-5 victory over Andrew Gilding on a day which saw two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis hit a nine-dart finish at the Barnsley Metrodome. Anderson, who has won the German Darts Championship and a UK Open qualifier in a brilliant start to 2014, claimed victory the £10,000 first prize in Barnsley for the 15th of his PDC career. Anderson started his road to third title of 2014 with a 111 average in his first game against fellow Scotsman Gary Stone before triumphs over John Henderson and James Hubbard saw him through to the last 16. The Scotsman defeated fellow Premier League star Wes Newton 6-3 before ending Andy Hamilton’s day with a 6-3 triumph, and the same scoreline was recorded by Anderson again in his semi-final win against Mervyn King. In a thrilling final against Andrew Gilding, Anderson started quickly to lead 3-0 before Gilding got off the mark by taking the fourth leg. Anderson restored his three leg advantage with the aid of a 76 finish before Gilding produced a fabulous 134 checkout to win the sixth. Gilding took the next two legs to level at four apiece before Anderson stopped his opponent’s momentum with a brilliant 11-darter to edge ahead. Gilding won the tenth leg with an excellent 14-darter to force a decider only for Anderson to reply with one of his own to claim the £10,000 first prize with a sensational 111.47 average. Gilding reached his second Pro Tour final in the space of a month, which included a 6-4 win against Jamie Caven in his opening game and went on to defeat Mark Cox and 2006 Lakeside champion Jelle Klaasen in progressing to the last 32. The 43-year-old from Suffolk extended his winning run by defeating Michael Smith and Darren Webster to reach the last four were he produced a fine display to defeat James Wade by a 6-3 margin. After falling 3-0 down, Gilding produced a fabulous display in his second Pro Tour final where he went on to average 107 against Anderson before being denied victory by the narrowest of margins. Mervyn King, who reached the semi-finals of last weekend’s UK Open, backed up that display with an excellent run to the last four at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday. King, who defied a back injury to produce some excellent display at the UK Open defeated nine-dart hero Adrian Lewis in their quarter-final encounter with a fantastic 105 average, gaining revenge for his defeat to Stoke ace in Minehead. The former World Masters champion, who hit a ten-darter in his fabulous last eight display, hit five maximums in his last four clash against Anderson but it was not enough as he fell to a 6-3 loss to the Scotsman. James Wade showed excellent form during his run to the semi-finals on Saturday where he produced 104 averages in wins against Kim and Ronny Huybrechts before coming from 5-3 down to beat Ronnie Baxter in their quarter-final clash. However, the seven-time major champion was denied a chance of tasting victory for the first time since October 2011, when he was defeated 6-3 by Gilding in their semi-final encounter. Recently crowned UK Open champion Adrian Lewis produced a stunning standard on route to the last eight, were he averaged no worse than 101 in each of his four victories on Saturday. The highlight included a nine-dart finish against Joe Cullen in third leg of his 6-2 second round victory before backing that up with wins over Kevin Painter and Brendan Dolan – both with 101 averages. Lewis, though, ran in to in-form King who defeated the two-time World Champion 6-4 in their quarter-final clash to bring his fine day to an abrupt end. Ronnie Baxter suffered a narrow 6-5 loss to Wade in the last eight, having led 5-3, while Andy Hamilton and Darren Webster both took away £1,000 for good runs to the quarter-finals. Joe Murnan, who secured a Tour Card at Qualifying School in January for the second time, enjoyed his best run in a PDC Pro Tour event as he reached the last 16, which included the notable scalps of World Championship finalists, Dave Chisnall and Dean Winstanley. World number one Michael van Gerwen came from 4-1 down to defeat Josh Payne 6-5 in their second round encounter, before losing to Norwich’s Darren Webster by a 6-3 margin at the last 32 stage. Premier League stars Robert Thornton and Dave Chisnall were notable first round casualties while World Champions John Part and Mark Webster suffered the same fate. Sunday sees a second Players Championship event held at the Barnsley Metrodome, with £50,000 in prize money on offer once again, to complete the double-header. Players Championship 1 Barnsley Metrodome, March 15 2014 First Round Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-1 James Richardson Josh Payne 6-4 Mark Webster Darren Webster (32) 6-1 Joey Ten Berge Michael Barnard 6-3 Marc Dewsbury Brian Woods 6-1 John Part (16) Wayne Pepper 6-4 Nick Fullwell Justin Pipe (17) 6-1 Andy Jenkins Robert Owen 6-5 Jim Walker Andrew Gilding 6-4 Jamie Caven (8) Mark Cox 6-3 Steve West Jelle Klaasen (25) 6-1 John Newland Andy Parsons 6-4 William OConnor Steve Beaton (9) 6-5 Matthew Edgar Kevin Thomas 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez Michael Smith (24) 6-3 Stuart White Stephen Bunting 6-3 Gerwyn Price Peter Wright (5) 6-3 Mark Hylton Johnny Haines 6-0 Steve Hine Jamie Lewis (28) 6-1 Daryl Gurney Ryan De Vreede 6-4 Kyle Anderson Ian White (12) 6-2 Darron Brown Ben Ward 6-1 Steve Grubb Ronnie Baxter (21) 6-5 Ross Smith Denis Ovens 6-1 Glenn Spearing Kim Huybrechts (4) 6-3 Stuart Anderson Mick Todd 6-3 Gino Vos James Wade (29) 6-4 Jyhan Artut Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Arron Monk Simon Whitlock (13) 6-2 Dave Ladley Scott Rand 6-3 Kevin Voornhout Stuart Kellett (20) 6-2 Matt Padgett Pete Dyos 6-4 Joey Palfreyman Joe Murnan 6-4 Dave Chisnall (2) Chris Aubrey 6-5 Jason Hogg Vincent van der Voort (31) 6-2 Mareno Michels Dean Winstanley 6-3 Campbell Jackson Andy Hamilton (15) 6-3 Jamie Bain Dan Russell 6-5 Christian Kist Paul Nicholson (18) 6-2 Martyn Turner Tony Newell 6-3 Antonio Alcinas Gary Anderson (7) 6-1 Gary Stone John Henderson 6-0 Conan Whitehead Terry Jenkins (26) 6-4 Dennis Priestley James Hubbard 6-5 Keegan Brown Wes Newton (10) 6-2 Kevin Dowling John Bowles 6-4 Paul Amos Raymond van Barneveld (23) 6-3 Michael Mansell Nigel Heydon 6-2 Jerry Hendriks Mark Walsh 6-4 Robert Thornton (6) Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Steve Brown David Pallett 6-3 Richie Burnett (27) Colin Osborne 6-2 Adam Hunt Mervyn King (11) 6-3 Darren Whittingham Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Benito van de Pas Mark Barilli 6-4 Andy Smith (22) David Dodds 6-3 Tomas Seyler Brendan Dolan (3) 6-2 Kevin McDine Ian Moss 6-2 Peter Hudson Wayne Jones (30) 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher Darren Johnson 6-1 Colin Lloyd Adrian Lewis (14) 6-0 Ryan Harrington Joe Cullen 6-2 Terry Temple Kevin Painter (19) 6-3 Ricky Evans Dennis Smith 6-5 Kirk Shepherd Second Round Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Josh Payne Darren Webster 6-3 Michael Owen Brian Woods 6-4 Wayne Pepper Justin Pipe 6-1 Robert Owen Andrew Gilding 6-0 Mark Cox Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Andy Parsons Steve Beaton 6-5 Kevin Thomas Michael Smith 6-4 Stephen Bunting Peter Wright 6-4 Johnny Haines Ryan De Vreede 6-4 Jamie Lewis Ian White 6-4 Ben Ward Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Denis Ovens Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Mick Todd James Wade 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts Simon Whitlock 6-4 Scott Rand Stuart Kellett 6-2 Pete Dyos Joe Murnan 6-3 Chris Aubrey Dean Winstanley 6-5 Vincent van der Voort Andy Hamilton 6-3 Dan Russell Tony Newell 6-3 Paul Nicholson Gary Anderson 6-2 John Henderson James Hubbard 6-4 Terry Jenkins Wes Newton 6-0 John Bowles Nigel Heydon 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Mark Walsh David Pallett 6-2 Colin Osborne Mervyn King 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp Mark Barilli 6-2 David Dodds Brendan Dolan 6-2 Ian Moss Wayne Jones 6-3 Darren Johnson Adrian Lewis 6-2 Joe Cullen - Lewis hits nine-dart finish Kevin Painter 6-5 Dennis Smith Losers £250 Third Round Darren Webster 6-3 Michael van Gerwen Justin Pipe 6-5 Brian Woods Andrew Gilding 6-2 Jelle Klaasen Michael Smith 6-4 Steve Beaton Peter Wright 6-3 Ryan De Vreede Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Ian White James Wade 6-0 Kim Huybrechts Stuart Kellett 6-5 Simon Whitlock Joe Murnan 6-5 Dean Winstanley Andy Hamilton 6-0 Tony Newell Gary Anderson 6-4 James Hubbard Wes Newton 6-5 Nigel Heydon Mark Dudbridge 6-5 David Pallett Mervyn King 6-3 Mark Barilli Brendan Dolan 6-2 Wayne Jones Adrian Lewis 6-2 Kevin Painter Losers £500 Fourth Round Darren Webster 6-5 Justin Pipe Andrew Gilding 6-3 Michael Smith Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Peter Wright James Wade 6-4 Stuart Kellett Andy Hamilton 6-4 Joe Murnan Gary Anderson 6-3 Wes Newton Mervyn King 6-4 Mark Dudbridge Adrian Lewis 6-2 Brendan Dolan Losers £1,000 Quarter-Finals Andrew Gilding 6-2 Darren Webster James Wade 6-5 Ronnie Baxter Gary Anderson 6-3 Andy Hamilton Mervyn King 6-4 Adrian Lewis Losers £1,500 Semi-Finals Andrew Gilding 6-3 James Wade Gary Anderson 6-3 Mervyn King Losers £2,500 Final Gary Anderson 6-5 Andrew Gilding Winner £10,000 Runner-up £5,000 Final - Leg-by-Leg Andrew Gilding v Gary Anderson 0-1 - Anderson holds throw in the opening leg by taking out a 53 finish. 0-2 - The Scotsman kicks-off with two 140 scores and goes to break Gildings throw at the first time of asking. 0-3 - Anderson continues the high standard as he converts a 65 checkout to move further ahead. 1-3 - Gilding leaves 40 after 12-darts thrown and goes on to win the leg against the darts. 1-4 - Anderson restores his three leg advantage by landing a 76 checkout. 2-4 - Both players fire in 180s before Gilding produces a fabulous 134 checkout to keep in the hunt. 3-4 - Anderson misses two attempts at doubles and Gilding takes out 48 to claw another leg back. 4-4 - Anderson hits scores of 171 and 139 to leave 32 after 12-darts only for Gilding to hit an 85 finish to draw level. 4-5 - The former Premier League champion hits back with scores of 180, 140 and 130 before hitting double eight to edge ahead. 5-5 - Anderson misses one dart for the match and Gilding capitalises to force a deciding leg. 5-6 - The Scotsman starts the deciding leg with a 180 and goes to take it on double eight to win a thriller. Match Stats Andrew Gilding 5-6 Gary Anderson 20 100+ 18 7 140+ 8 0 170+ 1 1 180 3 107.70 Average 111.47 134 High Finish 76 1 Breaks of Throw 1
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 18:44:55 +0000
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