GARY ANDERSON completed a Dutch Darts Trophy double with a 6-3 win over Andy Smith in the final at the Van Der Valk Hotel in Nuland as he joined the elite group of players to win back-to-back Players’ Championships.
The Scot had picked up the first prize in Saturday’s event in Holland, and repeated the achievement 24 hours later, putting himself alongside Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, Mervyn King, Robert Thornton and Wes Newton in winning both PDC Pro Tour events over a weekend.
He had counted himself lucky to escape a first round loss to young Dutchman Rico Dera, who led 5-2 before being clawed back by the 888.com Premier League Darts Champion.
Anderson then defeated Michael Mansell, Adrian Gray and Co Stompe to reach the quarter-finals, where he mounted an even more impressive comeback against Dennis Smith.
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Smith needed to defeat Anderson to win a qualifying place for the World Matchplay next month, and led 5-1 before the Scot hit back with five straight legs to take victory – landing a trio of 12-dart finishes in the process. He then defeated Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals for a second successive day, courtesy of a 6-2 triumph, before facing in-form Smith in the decider.
Anderson took an early 2-0 lead thanks to finishes of double six and double eight before Smith hit back to level, courtesy of a 14-dart leg and a 116 finish. Anderson, though, replied in 14 darts with a 96 checkout, and punished three missed doubles from Smith to win the sixth against the throw for a 4-2 lead.
Double four for a 15-darter saw him move 5-2 up, and although he missed a match dart as Smith landed tops to win a third leg and stay in the game, Anderson was too strong and sealed victory in 13 darts, hitting a 180 and double two for the win.
Smith had won a Players’ Championship the previous week in Barnsley. He came from 4-1 down to win his semi-final with Vincent van der Voort 6-5, taking out 120 to win the deciding leg, and also defeated Colin Osborne, Per Laursen and Steve Brown during the event.
Whitlock’s run to the semi-finals saw him reach that stage for the sixth time this year, and included 6-4 wins over Steve Beaton and stablemate James Wade in the latter stages as well as a narrow 6-5 victory against Devon Petersen.
Van der Voort also continued his impressive form this year by reaching the last four, following up Saturday’s quarter-final with a semi-final appearance before going down to Smith.
Beaton’s run to the last eight saw him jump into the Players’ Championship Order of Merit qualifying places for the World Matchplay at the expense of Magnus Caris, who had occupied the final spot going into Sunday’s event.
Caris had been defeated in a showdown with Andy Hamilton in Sunday’s first round, as the former Blackpool semi-finalist was left clinging on to his spot in the World Matchplay.
Hamilton has slipped to 17th in the PDC Order of Merit, and lost 6-5 to Mensur Suljovic in the second round on Sunday, but when Dennis Smith’s run was agonisingly ended by Anderson the Derby-based star was able to relax.
The day also featured a nine-dart finish for Justin Pipe, the first of his professional career, meaning the blow of going on to lose 6-4 to Colin Osborne was softened by a £400 bonus as he matched Simon Whitlock’s perfect leg 24 hours earlier.
Osborne’s win was amongst four he put together in reaching a second successive quarter-final to seal his World Matchplay qualification.
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Darts World August 2011 (Issue 465)
Main Image: Tip Top Pics
