The incredible Gary Anderson has won another big TV title and he’s done it in some style!
The Team Unicorn superstar claimed the Champions League crown in Brighton with a blistering display.
He swept aside Peter Wright 11-4 in the final to claim the £100,000 prize and he was unstoppable on a sensational Sunday.
Amazingly, Anderson hit THREE 10 darters in the final as he added the Champions League Trophy to a long list of big TV triumphs in 2018....UK Open, US Masters and World Matchplay.
But he was a millimetre away from not even qualifying for the semi-finals! Gary had to beat Michael van Gerwen in his last group match to edge out Daryl Gurney for a place in the last four.
He led the Dutchman 6-3 and 9-6 in the race to 10. But Van Gerwen battled back to 9-9 and in the last leg the World No.1 missed two darts for the match, only for Anderson to bang in a sensational 140 finish to take it!
“I guess I rode my luck against Michael,” he said. “But after losing last year’s final to Mensur, I wanted this trophy and I felt like I was playing really well all day. It means a lot because I haven’t done too much since the World Series and to beat Michael, Mensur and Peter in one day takes some doing!”
Indeed it does, but Gary was just too good on Sunday at the Brighton Centre. He dispatched Suljovic 11-4 with a 103 average to end the Austrian’s defence of the title. A run of five straight legs sealed the victory and he then played even better in the final
Wright had come from 1-4 and 5-8 down to beat Van Gerwen 11-9 in the semi-finals, but he was no match for Anderson.
The Scot raced into a 6-1 lead, hitting his first 10 darter in the 7th leg. There was no coming back for ‘Snakebite’ from there. The second 10 darter came in leg 12 as he made it 8-4 and he made it a scintillating hat-trick in the winning leg....140, 180, 165 and the winning double on D8.
He finished with another ton plus average and a check-out success rate of 63% with six 180s.
When he is playing like that, there really is nobody better! And there’s some big tournaments to come over the next three months.
Story by STUART PYKE
Image courtesy PDC
