Gary Anderson was victorious on Monday in winning Players Championship Eight and picking up a first title in over three years, as he defeated Krzysztof Ratajski 8-5 in the final, as the PDC Pro Tour double-header concluded at Halle 39, Hildesheim.
Anderson, who lost out in last week’s Players Championship 5 decider to Ross Smith, went a step further this time, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Jamie Hughes, Jelle Klaasen, Luke Humphries, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Gian Van Veen and Gerwyn Price, to set up a clash with Ratajski.
The final began with five straight holds of throw between the pair, before the first break came from Anderson in Leg 6 with a 15 darter to move 4-2 ahead in a race to eight. The following leg saw ‘The Flying Scotsman’ fire in a 12-dart leg and a 170 checkout to go 5-2 up, before Ratajski won back-to-back legs in a total of 27 darts to move within one of his opponent.
Anderson then won three of the following four legs, which saw him seal the win in Leg 13 with a 16 darter and an 8-5 victory to pick up a first ranking title since February 2020.
Ratajski’s run to the final followed up a Semi Final run at Sunday’s Players Championship 7, as he recorded victories against Richie Burnett, Ryan Meikle, Boris Krcmar, Dave Chisnall, Brendan Dolan and Ricardo Pietreczko, before being denied by Anderson.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Ross Smith and Luke Woodhouse, with the likes of Dirk Van Duijvenbode, Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen among the names to suffer first round exits, whilst William O’Connor fired in a perfect leg during his 1st round victory against Jimmy Hendriks.
The PDC Pro Tour returns next month with a double-header in Wigan on April 15-16th, as Players Championship Nine & Ten take place, with the 128 players competing for £100,000 in prize money each day, with play beginning at 12:00 GMT.
Play will be broadcasted across two streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.
Players Championship 8
Last 16
Gary Anderson 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gian Van Veen 6-4 Mike De Decker
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Michael Van Gerwen
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 James Wade
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Andy Boulton
Ross Smith 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-0 Keegan Brown
Quarter Finals
Gary Anderson 6-2 Gian Van Veen
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Ross Smith
Semi Finals
Gary Anderson 7-3 Gerwyn Price
Krzysztof Ratajski 7-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Final
Gary Anderson 8-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
—–Ends——
Images: PDC
This is awesome Gary firing is just what darts needs