Gary Anderson picked up his first title of the year and a 30th career Players Championship title on Monday, after defeating Adam Lipscombe 8-3 in the final of Players Championship Seven, on a day that saw three nine-dart legs at Halle 39, Hildesheim.
Anderson, who picked up two Players Championship victories and a European Tour title during his 2024 campaign, returned to the winners’ circle, as the Scottish icon reached the final firstly by recording victories against Connor Scutt, Andy Boulton, Marvin Van Velzen, Tavis Dudeney, Krzysztof Ratajski and Mike De Decker, to set up a clash with Lipscombe.
Nothing separated the pair in the opening stages of the final, with four straight holds of throw, ending with Anderson breaking Lipscombe’s throw in Leg Five with a 12 darter, before following it up with a 17 dart hold of throw to move 4-2 ahead and halfway to victory. Lipscombe halved the deficit in the following leg, before ‘The Flying Scotsman’ rattled off four successive legs in 18,12, 16 and 15 darts respectively to seal an 8-3 victory and pick up a 30th career Players Championship title, with only Phil Taylor (45) and Michael Van Gerwen (36) to have won more than the 2x World Champion.
Lipscombe’s landmark run to a first Pro Tour final saw the 32-year-old record victories on the day against Michael Flynn, Andy Baetens, Damon Heta, Karel Sedlacek, William O’Connor and Dirk Van Duijvenbode, before being denied by Anderson.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for 2x World Champion Peter Wright and Dutchman Kevin Doets, making a third consecutive last eight run on the Pro Tour, whilst the likes of 3x World Champion Michael Van Gerwen, top seed Dave Chisnall and 5x World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld were amongst the high profile first round casualties. Also, the day saw three nine-dart legs hit by Ryan Searle, Dirk Van Duijvenbode and William O’Connor.
The PDC Pro Tour double-header concludes on Tuesday with Players Championship Eight taking place in Hildesheim, with the 128 players returning to compete for a further £125,000 in prize money, with play beginning at 13:00 CET (12:00 GMT).
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 Seven
Last 16
William O’Connor 6-1 Jimmy Van Schie
Adam Lipscombe 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Kevin Doets 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-4 Niko Springer
Gary Anderson 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright 6-4 Danny Van Trijp
Mike De Decker 6-5 Ricky Evans
Quarter Finals
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 William O’Connor
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-3 Kevin Doets
Gary Anderson 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Mike De Decker 6-3 Peter Wright
Semi Finals
Adam Lipscombe 7-4 Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Gary Anderson 7-3 Mike De Decker
Final
Gary Anderson 8-3 Adam Lipscombe
—–ENDS—-
Images: PDC
