Record-breaking Gary Anderson storms to Players Championship Two title
Gary Anderson opened his account for 2024 by claiming the Players Championship Two title courtesy of an 8-5 victory over Ryan Searle in the final in Wigan.
Anderson enjoyed a record-breaking Tuesday at the Robin Park Sports Centre as he registered a new personal best average of 117.12 on his way to taking the title.
The two-time World Champion produced a quartet of ton-plus averages during his run and remarkably missed double 12 for a nine-darter on three occasions.
Anderson opened up with a 6-3 win over Germany’s Daniel Klose, before whitewashing Adam Gawlas with a 106 average.
He then saw off Daryl Gurney 6-2 before recording a staggering 117.12 average in a 6-0 demolition of WDF World Champion Andy Baetens in the Last 16.
The Flying Scotsman dispatched Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 in the Quarter-Finals, before seeing off his World Cup team-mate Peter Wright 7-5 in the semis, missing double 12 for a perfect leg in the process.
Anderson came up against his close friend and practice partner Searle in the final, and the pair delivered a captivating contest, which saw Anderson open up a 2-0 lead despite a plethora of missed doubles.
Searle rallied with a run of three straight legs to hit the front, including back-to-back checkouts of 129 and 102.
Anderson wrestled back the lead at 4-3, before Searle finished 81 for an 11-darter to restore parity.
Successive legs followed again for Anderson as he produced a stunning 134 checkout on tops-tops to go 6-4 ahead, but Searle stayed in touch with a magnificent 149 checkout in leg 11.
A 78 finish moved Anderson 7-5 ahead, and he began the next leg with back-to-back 180s before missing double 12 for a nine-darter and eventually settling for a ten-darter to seal victory.
“It’s always nice to win these events, especially the way I played today,” said Anderson.
“Yesterday I felt like a kid at a new school, I was nervous but today I felt more settled and it showed in my performances.
“It’s been a long day and I’m happy to come out on top against a great player in Ryan.
“We’ve practiced together a couple of times since the World Championship, we spur each other on.
“He’s a great guy, he just gets on with it and plays darts, he puts the effort in so it’s nice to see him do well.
“I’ll just carry on doing what I do, I’m in a good place in my life and I’m enjoy playing darts.
“I’m looking forward to playing the European Tour events as well this year and I want to keep my form going.”
Searle was forced to settle for second prize for the second day running, having narrowly lost out to Luke Littler in Monday’s final.
Littler’s hopes of claiming back-to-back titles were ended by Poland’s Radek Szaganski, who prevailed in a deciding leg in their Second Round tie.
Meanwhile, Peter Wright enjoyed a welcome run to his first ranking Semi-Final since last October, defeating fellow Scotsmen Alan Soutar and Cameron Menzies along the way.
A resurgent Martin Lukeman advanced to the semi-finals with notable wins over the likes of Chris Dobey and Masters champion Stephen Bunting.
There were shock First Round exits for both Luke Humphries and Michael Smith as they bowed out at the hands of Jurjen van der Velde and Danny Lauby respectively in deciding legs.
Dave Chisnall suffered a second successive exit in Round One and was joined by the likes of Dimitri van den Bergh, Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Players Championship Two Results
Tuesday February 13
Round One
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Lee Evans
Oskar Lukasiak 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Patrick Geeraets 6-4 Darren Beveridge
Peter Wright 6-3 Alan Soutar
James Hurrell 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Joe Cullen 6-3 Jules van Dongen
Michele Turetta 6-5 Owen Roelofs
James Wade 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Robert Owen 6-3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Danny Lauby 6-5 Michael Smith
Stephen Burton 6-4 Haupai Puha
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Christian Perez
Luke Littler 6-4 Danny Noppert
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Simon Whitlock
William O’Connor 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Graham Hall 6-4 Aden Kirk
Gian van Veen 6-2 Adam Warner
Scott Williams 6-5 Robert Grundy
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Owen Bates
Berry van Peer 6-2 Richie Burnett
Mike De Decker 6-2 Martijn Dragt
Andy Baetens 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Josh Rock 6-3 Keane Barry
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Darryl Pilgrim
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Jim Williams
Gary Anderson 6-3 Daniel Klose
Adam Gawlas 6-3 Steve Beaton
Chris Dobey 6-1 Matthew Dennant
William Borland 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Luke Humphries
Ricky Evans 6-2 Jacques Labre
Florian Hempel 6-3 Martin Schindler
Steve Lennon 6-5 Chris Landman
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Josh Payne
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Callan Rydz 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Danny Jansen 6-3 Benjamin Drue Reus
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Robbie Knops
Leighton Bennett 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Richard Veenstra
George Killington 6-1 Jamie Hughes
Ross Smith 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Kevin Doets 6-4 Pascal Rupprecht
Arron Monk 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Joshua Richardson 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Damon Heta 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Adam Smith-Neale 6-1 Graham Usher
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Adam Hunt 6-0 Matt Campbell
Ryan Searle 6-3 Callum Goffin
Brett Claydon 6-3 Keegan Brown
Rhys Griffin 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Madars Razma 6-3 Ian White
Rob Cross 6-1 Mervyn King
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-0 Nick Kenny
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Jitse Van der Wal
Paul Krohne 6-3 Dom Taylor
Second Round
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Oskar Lukasiak 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Peter Wright 6-5 James Hurrell
Michele Turetta 6-4 Joe Cullen
Robert Owen 6-5 James Wade
Danny Lauby 6-5 Stephen Burton
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Luke Littler
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 William O’Connor
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Graham Hall
Gian van Veen 6-4 Scott Williams
Berry van Peer 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Andy Baetens 6-4 Mike De Decker
Josh Rock 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Gary Anderson 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Chris Dobey 6-2 William Borland
Ricky Evans 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Steve Lennon 6-5 Florian Hempel
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Callan Rydz 6-5 Danny Jansen
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Leighton Bennett
Jose De Sousa 6-5 George Killington
Kevin Doets 6-3 Ross Smith
Arron Monk 6-4 Joshua Richardson
Adam Smith-Neale 6-4 Damon Heta
Adam Hunt 6-0 Andrew Gilding
Ryan Searle 6-4 Brett Claydon
Rhys Griffin 6-5 Madars Razma
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Paul Krohne 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Losers: £1,000
Last 32
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Oskar Lukasiak
Peter Wright 6-5 Michele Turetta
Robert Owen 6-3 Danny Lauby
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Radek Szaganski
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Gian van Veen 6-3 Berry van Peer
Andy Baetens 6-4 Josh Rock
Gary Anderson 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Chris Dobey 6-5 Ricky Evans
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Steve Lennon
Callan Rydz 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Kevin Doets
Arron Monk 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Ryan Searle 6-2 Adam Hunt
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Rhys Griffin
Paul Krohne 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Losers: £1,500
Last 16
Peter Wright 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Robert Owen 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Gian van Veen
Gary Anderson 6-0 Andy Baetens
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Chris Dobey
Callan Rydz 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Ryan Searle 6-1 Arron Monk
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Paul Krohne
Losers: £2,500
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright 6-2 Robert Owen
Gary Anderson 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Callan Rydz
Ryan Searle 6-4 Niels Zonneveld
Losers: £3,500
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 7-5 Peter Wright
Ryan Searle 7-6 Martin Lukeman
Losers: £5,000
Final
Gary Anderson 8-5 Ryan Searle
Winner: £15,000
Runner-up: £10,000
