GARY ANDERSON picked up his fourth PDC ProTour win of 2014 as he edged out Phil Taylor 6-5 in the final of Saturday's Players Championship, as Dave Chisnall and Michael van Gerwen recorded nine-dart finishes in Crawley.
Scottish ace Anderson's return to form this year continued as he won a Players Championship for a second successive Saturday, to follow up his German Darts Championship and Coral UK Open Qualifier triumphs earlier in 2014 in consolidating his return to the world's top 16.
The former Premier League Darts champion - whose partner Rachel is expecting their first child next week - defeated James Hubbard, Marc Dewsbury, Conan Whitehead and Joe Murnan to win through to the last eight, where he edged out Adrian Lewis 6-4.
He then survived four missed match darts from Christian Kist before winning their semi-final in a deciding leg, before claiming victory in a high-quality 11-leg final against Taylor.
Taylor broke in the opening leg with a 14-darter, only for Anderson to level before hitting a 180 in a 13-darter to move 2-1 up.
The Scot then missed the bull for a 170 finish as Taylor levelled with a 13-darter of his own, and the pair traded the next two before another 13-dart finish moved Anderson 4-3 up, as he landed another maximum.
The pair then hit 171 scores in the next before Taylor finished 146 for a 12-darter to level, before both hit 180s as Anderson took out double eight to lead 5-4.
Taylor finished 109 to send the game into a decider and left himself 102 in the final leg, only to see Anderson check out 104 on double 12 to complete the win, claiming the £10,000 first prize.
Taylor continued his own return to top form with a fine day of darts, defeating Keegan Brown and Kurt Parry in his opening two games before seeing off Andy Hamilton 6-2 in the third round.
He then won an extraordinary last 16 tie against Michael van Gerwen, who hit a nine-dart finish in taking the match to a deciding leg and averaged 114 only to see his rival take out a 116 finish to claim victory.
Taylor then defied a 111 average from Terry Jenkins to win their quarter-final 6-4 before averaging 106 himself to see off Nigel Heydon in the semis, only to fall just short in the decider.
Van Gerwen's perfect leg against Taylor came after an earlier nine-darter from Dave Chisnall, who achieved the feat as he came back from 5-1 down to defeat Mark Walsh 6-5 in the second round.
Chisnall later lost to Wade in the last 32, with the seven-time major winner progressing to the quarter-finals before going out to Kist.
Kist's run to the semi-finals was his best display since joining the PDC circuit in January, with the former Lakeside Champion continuing to impress.
Nigel Heydon also reached the semi-finals for only the second time as a professional - with his previous run having come in a Players Championship in Gibraltar in February 2010 on his first-ever weekend on the PDC circuit.
Heydon had been forced to win back his PDC Tour Card in January at Qualifying School but showed fine form as he whitewashed John Part in the first round and also defeated Ian Moss, David Pallett, Ian White and Ronnie Baxter on the day.
Players Championship 3
Saturday March 22, K2 Centre, Crawley
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-1 Scott Rand
Adam Hunt 6-5 Glenn Spearing
William O'Connor 6-3 Darren Webster (32)
Kevin Dowling 6-5 Matt Clark
Phil Taylor (16) 6-4 Keegan Brown
Kurt Parry 6-1 Jim Walker
Andy Hamilton (17) 6-5 Steve West
Joey Palfreyman 6-2 Darren Whittingham
Jamie Caven (8) 6-4 Peter Hudson
Mark Cox 6-5 Dan Russell
Terry Jenkins (25) 6-3 Tony Newell
Steve Hine 6-3 John Newland
Steve Beaton (9) 6-0 Jerry Hendriks
Chris Aubrey 6-2 Robert Owen
Jelle Klaasen (24) 6-3 Ryan De Vreede
Colin Osborne 6-4 Mareno Michels
David Pallett 6-5 Peter Wright (5)
Johnny Haines 6-3 Adrian Gray
Nigel Heydon 6-0 John Part (28)
Ian Moss 6-3 Colin Lloyd
Ian White (12) 6-1 Ricky Evans
Terry Temple 6-2 Wayne Pepper
Andy Smith (21) 6-1 Steve Douglas
Mark Webster 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Kim Huybrechts (4) 6-3 Darren Johnson
Connie Finnan 6-5 Jonathan Worsley
Wayne Jones (29) 6-2 Jason Lovett
John Henderson 6-3 Ross Smith
Simon Whitlock (13) 6-5 Josh Payne
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Michael Barnard
Ronnie Baxter (20) 6-0 James Richardson
Matt Padgett 6-5 Steve Brown
Dave Chisnall (2) 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Mark Walsh 6-1 Zoran Lerchbacher
James Wade (31) 6-5 Joe Cullen
Dennis Smith 6-3 Darron Brown
Justin Pipe (15) 6-3 Magnus Caris
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Arron Monk
Paul Nicholson (18) 6-5 Gary Stone
Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Campbell Jackson
Robert Thornton (7) 6-3 Denis Ovens
Martyn Turner 6-3 Tomas Seyler
Michael Mansell 6-3 Jamie Lewis (26)
Jyhan Artut 6-2 Ben Ward
Kevin Voornhout 6-4 Wes Newton (10)
Christian Kist 6-3 Mark Barilli
Stuart Kellett (23) 6-4 Jamie Bain
Kevin McDine 6-4 Andy Parsons
Gary Anderson (6) 6-1 James Hubbard
Marc Dewsbury 6-1 Brian Woods
Paul Amos 6-5 Richie Burnett (27)
Conan Whitehead 6-1 Mick Todd
Mervyn King (11) 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Joe Murnan 6-2 John Bowles
Michael Smith (22) 6-4 Pete Dyos
Joey Ten Berge 6-2 Stuart White
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Brendan Dolan (3)
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Antonio Alcinas 6-4 Vincent van der Voort (30)
Gino Vos 6-3 Steve Grubb
Adrian Lewis (14) 6-2 Dave Ladley
Dean Winstanley 6-3 Benito van de Pas
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Kevin Painter (19)
Kevin Thomas 6-4 Steve Maish
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Adam Hunt
William O'Connor 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Phil Taylor 6-2 Kurt Parry
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Joey Palfreyman
Jamie Caven 6-2 Mark Cox
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Steve Hine
Steve Beaton 6-4 Chris Aubrey
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 Colin Osborne
David Pallett 6-5 Johnny Haines
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Ian Moss
Ian White 6-4 Terry Temple
Mark Webster 6-1 Andy Smith
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Connie Finnan
John Henderson 6-3 Wayne Jones
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Matt Padgett
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Mark Walsh - Dave Chisnall hits nine-dart finish
James Wade 6-1 Dennis Smith
Justin Pipe 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Ron Meulenkamp
Robert Thornton 6-0 Martyn Turner
Michael Mansell 6-2 Jyhan Artut
Christian Kist 6-5 Kevin Voornhout
Kevin McDine 6-5 Stuart Kellett
Gary Anderson 6-3 Marc Dewsbury
Conan Whitehead 6-2 Paul Amos
Joe Murnan 6-3 Mervyn King
Michael Smith 6-5 Joey Ten Berge
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Antonio Alcinas 6-1 Gino Vos
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Dean Winstanley
Kevin Thomas 6-1 Kyle Anderson
Losers £250
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 William O'Connor
Phil Taylor 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Jamie Caven
Steve Beaton 6-1 Jelle Klaasen
Nigel Heydon 6-4 David Pallett
Ian White 6-3 Mark Webster
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 John Henderson
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Simon Whitlock
James Wade 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Justin Pipe 6-1 Paul Nicholson
Michael Mansell 6-5 Robert Thornton
Christian Kist 6-5 Kevin McDine
Gary Anderson 6-3 Conan Whitehead
Joe Murnan 6-4 Michael Smith
Antonio Alcinas 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Kevin Thomas
Losers £500
Fourth Round
Phil Taylor 6-5 Michael van Gerwen - Michael van Gerwen hits nine-dart finish
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Steve Beaton
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Ian White
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
James Wade 6-3 Justin Pipe
Christian Kist 6-5 Michael Mansell
Gary Anderson 6-1 Joe Murnan
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Antonio Alcinas
Losers £1,000
Quarter-Finals
Phil Taylor 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Ronnie Baxter
Christian Kist 6-3 James Wade
Gary Anderson 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Losers £1,500
Semi-Finals
Phil Taylor 6-0 Nigel Heydon
Gary Anderson 6-5 Christian Kist
Losers £2,500
Final
Gary Anderson 6-5 Phil Taylor
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000
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