Burnham-On-Sea resident Gary Anderson won the European Darts Grand Prix for the second year in a row as he brilliantly whitewashed Andrew Gilding 8-0 in Sunday evening’s final.
The two-time world champion defended his title in Sindelfingen in scintillating fashion, averaging 92 and hitting 52 per cent of his doubles against a beleaguered Gilding.
The victory will give Anderson greater flexibility in implementing a limited schedule for the rest of the year and should boost his hopes of qualifying for major tournaments like the World Matchplay and the Grand Slam of Darts.
Anderson had seen off world youth champion Gian van Veen on Saturday before overcoming world No 5 Rob Cross in the third round. A scrappy quarter-final win over Martin Lukeman was quickly followed by a comprehensive victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode as he powered into the final.
Gilding defeated Danny Noppert, Peter Wright and Luke Woodhouse as he soared into the showpiece but he missed 13 doubles as he suffered an embarrassing defeat in his bid to win a Pro Tour title for the first time.
A 141 checkout from Anderson in the fourth leg was the highlight of a comprehensive victory and the Scotsman clearly feels at home in Germany.
“Can I retire now?” the 54-year-old asked after the victory.
“I’m just glad that I can still come and play darts for these boys that are playing now. I have played for 30 years, I played with your Phil Taylors, your Eric Bristows, your Steve Beatons.”
“These youngsters are coming up and darts is in a good place. We’ve got a lot of young Germans coming through plus Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English, Italians, French… darts is going to be fantastic in the next five years.”
The European Darts Grand Prix proved to be an event full of surprises with James Wade the only player currently in the top 10 of the PDC Order of Merit to reach the last eight.
With world champion Luke Littler opting not to play in the event, Luke Humphries was top seed and he was dumped out by Michael Smith in a 6-5 thriller in the third round.
Cross was beaten 6-3 by Anderson in the third round, while fellow Premier League players Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall, Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting all exited at the first hurdle on Saturday.
Home hopes in Sindelfingen ended when Germany’s Martin Schindler was comprehensively beaten 6-2 by Van Duijvenbode in the third round.
Pictured: Gary Anderson was victorious at the European Darts Grand Prix (Pic: Sascha Janne/PDC Europe)
