Gary Anderson picked up his second Players Championship title of the year on Tuesday, after defeating Connor Scutt 8-4 in the final of PC22, as the PDC Pro Tour double-header commenced at the Mattioli Arena, Leicester.
Anderson, who’s last competitive action came at July’s Betfred World Matchplay, made the
best possible return by scooping up the £15,000 top prize in Leicester, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Krzysztof Ratajski, Lee Cocks, Mickey Mansell, Mike De Decker, Jonny Clayton and James Wade, to set up a clash with Scutt.
The final began with four straight breaks of throw between the pair, before Anderson ended the run with the first hold of throw in Leg Five to move 3-2 ahead in a race to eight. The tie then saw another three straight breaks of throw, with the streak again ended by Anderson in Leg Nine with a 15 darter to move 6-3 in front and within two of victory. Leg 10 saw Scutt go seven darts into a perfect leg, as ‘The Sniper’ hit an 11 darter to move within two of ‘The Flying Scotsman’.
Anderson then showed his class and experience by winning the following two legs
and sealing the victory in Leg 12 with a 12-dart break and a scintillating 121 checkout on the bull to claim a third PDC title of the year and a staggering 29th Players Championship title of his
career.
Scutt’s run to a second PDC ranking final saw the 28-year-old Englishman record victories on the day against Danny Lauby, Boris Krcmar, Cameron Menzies, Danny Noppert, Madars Razma and Christian Kist, before being denied by Anderson.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for last Tuesday’s PC20 runner-up Stephen Bunting and three-time ranking event winner Callan Rydz, whilst the likes of Dave Chisnall, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Ross Smith were amongst the high profile first round casualties.
The day also saw the newly crowned Hungarian Darts Trophy winner Michael Van Gerwen withdraw pre the event due to illness.
The PDC Pro Tour double-header concludes on Wednesday with Players Championship 23 taking place in Leicester, with the 128 players returning to compete for a further £125,000 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.
Players Championship 22
Last 16
Christian Kist 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Jamie Atkins
Madars Razma 6-2 Rob Cross
Connor Scutt 6-5 Danny Noppert
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Alan Soutar
Gary Anderson 6-3 Mike De Decker
Callan Rydz 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
James Wade 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Quarter Finals
Christian Kist 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Connor Scutt 6-3 Madars Razma
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jonny Clayton
James Wade 6-5 Callan Rydz
Semi Finals
Connor Scutt 7-3 Christian Kist
Gary Anderson 7-4 James Wade
Final
