GARY ANDERSON sealed his seventh PDC title of 2014 as he narrowly defeated Peter Wright to win the final Players Championship event of the year in Coventry on Sunday.
Anderson maintained his brilliant form on the ProTour in 2014 as he swept through the field before defeating Wright in the final on a day which also saw Adrian Lewis hit a spectacular nine-dart finish against Wes Newton.
The 6-5 win for Anderson in the final also ensured that the Scot overtook Michael van Gerwen to finish top of the ProTour Order of Merit and head into next weekend’s Players Championship Finals as top seed.
Anderson’s afternoon began with a comprehensive 6-2 victory over one of the weekend’s surprise packages, Gerwyn Price, who had reached the semi-finals of the Players Championship 19 event on Saturday.
The Scotsman breezed through the next three rounds, comfortably beating Paul Amos, David Pallett and Matt Clark, dropping just four legs in the process.
And the 43-year-old’s fantastic form would not desert him in the next round as he produced a superb display to coast past the weekend’s earlier winner Ian White 6-2 with a 109.6 average and set up a semi-final clash with James Wade.
Despite falling 4-2 behind, Anderson regained his composure to take four of the next five legs and book his place in the final against Wright.
Snakebite was in similarly impressive form as he saw off Marc Dewsbury (6-2), Kevin McDine (6-3), Dennis Smith (6-2) and Vincent van der Voort (6-4) in his opening rounds at the Ricoh Arena.
India’s Prakash Jiwa, who was equalling his best ever performance on the ProTour, was Wright’s next opponent, and he was too good for the 44-year-old as he sealed a whitewash win.
Another man enjoying an impressive day at the oche was Simon Whitlock who had returned to form to reach the semi-finals, but Wright would spoil the party as he edged the Wizard out 6-5 in a deciding leg to reach the final.
Wright struggled in the early exchanges of the final as Anderson raced into a 4-2 lead, however Snakebite fought back superbly to take the next three legs and move one leg away from the win.
Anderson was not prepared to go down without a fight though and after pulling the game back to 5-5, produced a brilliant ten-dart leg in the decider to take the title and £10,000 winner’s cheque in style.
Players Championship 20
Sunday November 23, Ricoh Arena, Coventry
First Round
Gary Anderson 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Paul Amos 6-3 Joey Ten Berge
David Pallett 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Josh Payne 6-5 Mark Walsh
Matt Clark 6-3 Steve Beaton
Steve Douglas 6-3 Magnus Caris
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Joe Lacey
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Justin Pipe 6-4 Connie Finnan
Andy Pearce 6-2 Stuart White
Darren Webster 6-5 Michael Barnard
Ricky Evans 6-4 Ryan Palmer
Ian White 6-4 Ryan Harrington
Mark Barilli 6-5 William O'Connor
Kevin Painter 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Wayne Pepper 6-4 Kevin Dowling
James Wade 6-4 Kevin Thomas
James Hubbard 6-5 Jim Walker
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Steve Grubb
John Henderson 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Adrian Lewis 6-4 James Richardson
Ian Moss 6-3 Kurt Parry
Wes Newton 6-2 Jason Hogg
Stuart Kellett 6-1 Peter Hudson
Robert Thornton 6-4 John Bowles
Jyhan Artut 6-2 Arron Monk
Steve West 6-0 Jamie Lewis
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Ben Ward
Ross Smith 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
David Ladley 6-5 Pete Dyos
Jamie Caven 6-3 Chris Aubrey
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Joe Cullen
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Mark Webster
Adam Hunt 6-2 Matt Padgett
Christian Kist 6-2 Jeff Batham
John Part 6-4 Tomas Seyler
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Glenn Spearing
Richie Howson 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Terry Temple
Keegan Brown 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Mervyn King 6-1 Joe Murnan
Steve Hine 6-4 Mick Todd
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 Colin Osborne
Steve Brown 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Wayne Jones
Mark Frost 6-5 Darron Brown
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Andy Parsons
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Tony Newell
Peter Wright 6-2 Marc Dewsbury
Kevin McDine 6-3 Ian McFarlane
Dennis Smith 6-4 Andy Smith
Mark Forman 6-5 Robert Owen
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Jerry Hendriks
Darren Johnson 6-2 Ross Twell
Brett Claydon 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Johnny Haines 6-4 Ryan de Vreede
Michael Smith 6-3 Jamie Bain
Brian Woods 6-3 David Dodds
Prakash Jiwa 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Scott Mackenzie 6-4 Gary Stone
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Antonio Alcinas
Jason Lovett 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Conan Whitehead 6-3 Dan Russell
Second Round
Gary Anderson 6-0 Paul Amos
David Pallett 6-3 Josh Payne
Matt Clark 6-5 Steve Douglas
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Justin Pipe 6-0 Andy Pearce
Ricky Evans 6-2 Darren Webster
Ian White 6-5 Mark Barilli
Kevin Painter 6-3 Wayne Pepper
James Wade 6-1 James Hubbard
Benito van de Pas 6-2 John Henderson
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Ian Moss
Wes Newton 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Robert Thornton 6-5 Jyhan Artut
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Steve West
Ross Smith 6-3 David Ladley
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Jamie Caven
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Adam Hunt
Christian Kist 6-5 John Part
Richie Howson 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Keegan Brown 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Mervyn King 6-2 Steve Hine
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Steve Brown
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Mark Frost
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Peter Wright 6-3 Kevin McDine
Dennis Smith 6-4 Mark Forman
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Darren Johnson
Johnny Haines 6-4 Brett Claydon
Brian Woods 6-5 Michael Smith
Prakash Jiwa 6-2 Scott Mackenzie
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Colin Lloyd
Conan Whitehead 6-5 Jason Lovett
Losers: £250
Third Round
Gary Anderson 6-4 David Pallett
Matt Clark 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Ricky Evans 6-3 Justin Pipe
Ian White 6-3 Kevin Painter
James Wade 6-4 Benito van de Pas
Wes Newton 6-5 Adrian Lewis (Adrian Lewis hits nine-dart finish)
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Robert Thornton
Ross Smith 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Christian Kist 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Richie Howson 6-4 Keegan Brown
Mervyn King 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Mattew Edgar
Peter Wright 6-2 Dennis Smith
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Johnny Haines
Prakash Jiwa 6-4 Brian Woods
Kyle Anderson 6-2 Conan Whitehead
Losers: £500
Fourth Round
Gary Anderson 6-0 Matt Clark
Ian White 6-3 Ricky Evans
James Wade 6-5 Wes Newton
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Ross Smith
Richie Howson 6-1 Christian Kist
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Mervyn King
Peter Wright 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Prakash Jiwa 6-1 Kyle Anderson
Losers: £1,000
Quarter-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-2 Ian White
James Wade 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Richie Howson
Peter Wright 6-0 Prakash Jiwa
Losers: £1,500
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-5 James Wade
Peter Wright 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Losers: £2,500
Final
Gary Anderson v Peter Wright
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000