Gary Anderson clinches 30th ranking title at Players Championship 7

Gary Anderson secured a landmark 30th PDC ranking title at Players Championship 7 in Hildesheim on Monday with victory over Adam Lipscombe.

Anderson picked up two Players Championship titles in 2024, as well as a European Tour triumph, and opened his account for the new season at Halle 39.

The two-time World Champion overcame rank outsider Lipscombe 8-3 in the final, denying the world number 102 a fairy-tale triumph in only his eighth event since clinching a Tour Card at Qualifying School in January.

Anderson began his route to glory with a 6-2 success over Connor Scutt, before thrashing fellow Scotsman Andy Boulton 6-1 in the Second Round.

He then averaged 103.6 in a 6-2 win over Marvin van Velzen before replicating that scoreline with a 105.2 average against Tavis Dudeney in the Last 16.

The Flying Scotsman withstood a gallant late fightback from Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals by landing an 11-darter in the deciding leg to prevail with a 104.7 average, before brushing aside World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker 7-3 in the semi-finals.

Lipscombe started the final brightly by establishing a 2-1 lead, but only for Anderson to reel off eight of the next nine legs to storm to victory, with a brace of 12-darters along the way.

“The last few months have been hard for me,” admitted Anderson. “I’ve been struggling since December so it’s nice to win one.

“I’m still enjoying playing darts but sometimes my body doesn’t play ball; I’ll keep going.

“Fair play to Adam, I expect him to do well and put a hole in the rankings.”

Lipscombe continued the form which led him to the Fourth Round on his UK Open debut three weeks ago, defeating Michael Flynn, Andy Baetens, Damon Heta, Karel Sedlacek, William O’Connor and Dirk van Duijvenbode in a memorable run to a maiden ProTour final.

The run sees him climb 11 places to 91st in the Order of Merit and take a big step towards qualification for both the Players Championship Finals and World Championship later this year.

Monday’s action also saw three nine-dart finishes hit in Hildesheim, with Ryan Searle hitting perfection in his first leg of the day against Joshua Richardson.

Dirk van Duijvenbode and William O’Connor also produced perfect legs against Thomas Lovely and Jimmy van Schie respectively.

Michael van Gerwen, the only Premier League player in action, was dumped out in Round One by Germany’s Niko Springer, while the likes of Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen, Dimitri van den Bergh and Wessel Nijman also crashed out in the opening round.

Players Championship 7 Results

Monday March 17

First Round
Tommy Lishman 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Oskar Lukasiak
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Carl Sneyd
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Tom Sykes 6-5 Berry van Peer
Ian White 6-1 Joe Cullen
William O’Connor 6-3 Jim Long
Gian van Veen 6-4 Dominik Gruellich
Tim Wolters 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Damon Heta 6-0 Matt Campbell
Thibault Tricole 6-5 Danny Jansen
Andy Baetens 6-4 Madars Razma
Adam Lipscombe 6-3 Michael Flynn
Adam Warner 6-5 Josh Rock
Jarno Bottenberg 6-4 Haupai Puha
Kevin Doets 6-3 Benjamin Reus
Danny Lauby 6-1 Tom Bissell
Martijn Dragt 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Lukas Wenig 6-2 Gilbert van der Meijden
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Owen Bates
Justin Hood 6-2 Dennie Olde Kalter
Niko Springer 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
William Borland 6-2 James Hurrell
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Kevin Burness
Cam Crabtree 6-1 Robert Grundy
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Steve Lennon 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Stefan Bellmont
Thomas Lovely 6-5 Ted Evetts
Martin Schindler 6-5 Bradley Brooks
Tavis Dudeney 6-4 Rhys Griffin
Nick Kenny 6-4 Dom Taylor
George Killington 6-4 Dylan Slevin
Gary Anderson 6-2 Connor Scutt
Andy Boulton 6-5 Greg Ritchie
Michael Smith 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Marvin van Velzen 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Stephen Burton 6-2 Danny Noppert
Mervyn King 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Matthew Dennant 6-5 Christian Kist
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Graham Hall
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Pero Ljubic
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Keane Barry
Max Hopp 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Ross Smith 6-5 Rob Owen
Danny van Trijp 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Scott Williams 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Alan Soutar 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Maximilian Czerwinski
Peter Wright 6-4 Adam Paxton
Adam Hunt 6-5 Brett Claydon
Ryan Searle 6-3 Joshua Richardson – *Searle hits a nine-darter*
Ricky Evans 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Florian Hempel
Mike De Decker 6-5 Chris Landman
Mickey Mansell 6-1 Leon Weber
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Cor Dekker
Jitse Van der Wal 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans

Second Round
Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Tommy Lishman
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Tom Sykes 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
William O’Connor 6-4 Ian White
Gian van Veen 6-1 Tim Wolters
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Darren Beveridge
Damon Heta 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Adam Lipscombe 6-3 Andy Baetens
Adam Warner 6-5 Jarno Bottenberg
Kevin Doets 6-1 Danny Lauby
Martijn Dragt 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Justin Hood
Niko Springer 6-3 William Borland
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Steve Lennon 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Thomas Lovely – *Van Duijvenbode hits a nine-darter*
Tavis Dudeney 6-3 Martin Schindler
Nick Kenny 6-5 George Killington
Gary Anderson 6-1 Andy Boulton
Marvin van Velzen 6-0 Michael Smith
Mervyn King 6-5 Stephen Burton
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Max Hopp 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Danny van Trijp 6-5 Ross Smith
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-3 Scott Williams
Alan Soutar 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 6-2 Adam Hunt
Ricky Evans 6-4 Ryan Searle
Richard Veenstra 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Mike De Decker 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Jitse Van der Wal

Last 32
Jimmy van Schie 6-5 Sebastian Bialecki
William O’Connor 6-3 Tom Sykes
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Gian van Veen
Adam Lipscombe 6-3 Damon Heta
Kevin Doets 6-1 Adam Warner
Martijn Dragt 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Niko Springer 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Steve Lennon
Tavis Dudeney 6-5 Nick Kenny
Gary Anderson 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Mervyn King
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Max Hopp
Danny van Trijp 6-2 Jeffrey De Graaf
Peter Wright 6-2 Alan Soutar
Ricky Evans 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Mike De Decker 6-4 Luke Woodhouse

Last 16
William O’Connor 6-1 Jimmy van Schie – *O’Connor hits a nine-darter*
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