Gary Anderson storms to second title of the year at Players Championship 24

Gary Anderson sealed his second ranking title of the season at Players Championship 24 in Barnsley on Friday with an 8-4 defeat of Ryan Joyce in the final.

The two-time World Champion continued his sparkling spell of form to double his title tally for 2023, having also triumphed in Hildesheim back in March.

Anderson had enjoyed runs to the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, but ended the week in style by scooping the £12,000 top prize.

After opening his challenge with victory over Frenchman Jacques Labre, Anderson averaged over 107 to see off Daniel Klose and then averaged over 100 in wins over Stephen Burton, Kim Huybrechts – in a whitewash of the Belgian – and Martin Lukeman.

He then edged past an in-form Stephen Bunting 7-5 in the Semi-Finals, before powering to the title with a 103.7 average against Joyce.

Anderson took the opening three legs of the final without reply and also led 6-2 before Joyce claimed back-to-back legs to halve the deficit.

The Scot, though, ruthlessly stopped the fightback with an 11-darter before firing in a 12-dart leg to seal the title – a welcome boost ahead of next week’s BoyleSports World Grand Prix.

“I’m happy with that,” admitted Anderson. “My practice over the [summer] holidays hasn’t been great but I came here feeling alright.

“Yesterday and the day before I was playing well; I’ve got new darts – they’re going well.

“Nowadays if you get me to a dartboard, I enjoy playing darts. I just turn up and play darts now, and I giggle when I win.”

Joyce had been bidding to claim his second Players Championship title, having won through to a second ProTour final of 2023 – with Damon Heta previously denying the Tyneside thrower in July.

He defeated four Dutchmen in his six victories on Friday, notably averaging 105.7 in his 6-3 Quarter-Final win over Michael van Gerwen.

He also defeated Wednesday’s runner-up Christian Kist and emerging talents Danny van Trijp and Jurjen van der Velde, as well as enjoying a Second Round win over Ritchie Edhouse and a 7-3 Semi-Final success against Jonny Clayton.

Clayton enjoyed his best run since reaching July’s World Matchplay final, thrashing Heta 6-1 in the Quarter-Finals and edging past Joe Cullen in a tight Last 16 contest.

Bunting followed up his run to the recent German Darts Open final in Jena by reaching a second Players Championship Semi-Final of the year, registering three ton-plus averages in five wins.

Van Gerwen landed a sensational nine-darter during his brilliant Last 16 victory over Chris Dobey as the Dutchman averaged 111.4 – which followed a 112.3 average in a third round win over Pascal Rupprecht.

Woodhouse also achieved perfection on Friday during his first round win over Richie Burnett, as the Bewdley ace prepares to make his World Grand Prix debut next week.

Players Championship 24 Results

Friday September 29

First Round
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Josh Payne
Jim Williams 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jacques Labre
Daniel Klose 6-3 Keegan Brown
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Stephen Burton 6-1 Jamie Hughes
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Alan Soutar
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Robert Owen 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Owen Bates
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Kevin Doets 6-5 William O’Connor
Ryan Searle 6-1 Jamie Clark
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 David Evans
Gian van Veen 6-3 Ricky Evans
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Callum Goffin
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Tony Martinez
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Vladimir Andersen
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Darren Webster
Steve Lennon 6-1 Shaun Wilkinson
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Ross Smith
Peter Jacques 6-1 Brian Raman
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Richie Burnett – *Woodhouse hits a nine-darter*
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Cam Crabtree 6-1 Josh Rock
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Mervyn King 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Ted Evetts
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Graham Hall
Lee Evans 6-5 Joe Murnan
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Owen Roelofs
James Wilson 6-1 Luke Humphries
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Danny Jansen 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Dom Taylor 6-1 Damian Mol
Christian Kist 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Keane Barry 6-0 Madars Razma
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Pascal Rupprecht 6-2 John Henderson
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Connor Scutt 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Chris Dobey 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Matt Campbell 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Martin Schindler
Adam Warner 6-4 Kevin Burness
Steve Beaton 6-5 Ross Montgomery
Florian Hempel 6-1 Nick Kenny
Damon Heta 6-3 George Killington
Geert Nentjes 6-5 John O’Shea
Mike De Decker 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Arron Monk 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
James Wade 6-2 Scott Williams
Graham Usher 6-2 Jose Justicia
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Callan Rydz
Ian White 6-0 Chris Landman
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Andy Boulton
Robbie Knops 6-5 Scott Waites
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Robert Grundy 6-2 Devon Petersen
Joe Cullen 6-4 Jeff Smith
Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Nick Fullwell

Second Round
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Jim Williams 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Gary Anderson 6-3 Daniel Klose
Stephen Burton 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Adam Gawlas 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Jules van Dongen 6-4 Robert Owen
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Kevin Doets
Ryan Searle 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Gian van Veen 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Steve Lennon
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Peter Jacques
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Mervyn King 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Lee Evans
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 James Wilson
Dom Taylor 6-2 Danny Jansen
Christian Kist 6-3 Keane Barry
Pascal Rupprecht 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Connor Scutt
Chris Dobey 6-3 Matt Campbell
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Adam Warner
Steve Beaton 6-5 Florian Hempel
Damon Heta 6-1 Geert Nentjes
Arron Monk 6-4 Mike De Decker
James Wade 6-3 Graham Usher
Ian White 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Robbie Knops
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Robert Grundy
Joe Cullen 6-1 Jimmy Hendriks
Losers: £750

Last 32
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Jim Williams
Gary Anderson 6-3 Stephen Burton
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Ryan Searle
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Gian van Veen
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Boris Krcmar
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Mervyn King
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Christian Kist 6-3 Dom Taylor
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Pascal Rupprecht
Chris Dobey 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Damon Heta 6-2 Steve Beaton
Arron Monk 6-3 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Ian White
Joe Cullen 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Gary Anderson 6-0 Kim Huybrechts
Martin Lukeman 6-0 Jules van Dongen
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Christian Kist
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Chris Dobey
Damon Heta 6-1 Arron Monk
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Joe Cullen
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Damon Heta
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 7-5 Stephen Bunting
Ryan Joyce 7-3 Jonny Clayton
Losers: £4,000

Final
Gary Anderson 8-4 Ryan Joyce
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000

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