Anderson Leads Old Guard’s Charge

Gary Anderson continued his impressive run of form on Wednesday, with victory at Players Championship 25 and clinching back-to-back Pro Tour titles, after defeating Josh Rock 8-4 in the final, as the four-day header of PDC Pro Tour Events began at the Barnsley Metrodome.

Anderson, who triumphed at last month’s Players Championship 24, began the day with a 6-3 victory against Dutchman Damian Mol, before defeating Former UK Open Semi Finalist, Keane Barry in Round Two with an average over 105 and hitting a nine-dart leg during a 6-2 victory against the 21-year-old Irishman.

Anderson went on to defeat a trio of major champions in Ross Smith, Gerwyn Price and Danny Noppert, with averages in excess of 115, 108 and 107, before defeating Jim Williams to progress through to the final and set up a clash with Rock.

A finer example of the season’s theme could scarcely be imagined. The 52-year-old enjoying a renaissance versus the young prodigy trying to cement his reputation.

The final began with Rock taking the opener in 17 darts, before Anderson charged in front by rattling off four consecutive legs in a total of 57 darts to move 4-1 ahead and halfway to victory.

The Northern Irish star then staged a fightback, by winning three of the next four legs to cut the gap against ‘The Flying Scotsman’ to just one leg, before Anderson sealed the victory by winning the following three legs in 12, 17 and 18 darts respectively to secure an 8-4 victory and pick up a third Pro Tour title of 2023.

Rocky’s run to a fourth Players Championship final of the year saw the Northern Irishman record victories on the day against Shaun Wilkinson, Simon Whitlock, Steve Lennon, Daniel Klose, Rob Cross and Brendan Dolan, before being denied by the 2x World Champion, Anderson.

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Dutchman Martijn Kleermaker and Non Tour-Card youngster Cam Crabtree, who reached the last 8 for the first time at the other end of the experience spectrum Brendan Dolan produced yet another fine run, this time to the final four.

Meanwhile Premier League stars Peter Wright, Jonny Clayton and Chris Dobey were amongst the high-profile names to suffer first round exits.

The PDC Pro Tour four-day header continues on Thursday with Players Championship Twenty-Six taking place in Barnsley, with the 128 players returning to compete for a further £100,000 in prize money, with play beginning at 13:00 BST. Play will be broadcasted across four streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.