Gary Anderson completed a Dutch Darts Trophy double with a 6-3 win over Andy Smith in Sunday's final at the Van Der Valk Hotel in Nuland.
Stellar weekend for in-form Scot
Gary Anderson completed a Dutch Darts Trophy double with a 6-3 win over Andy Smith in Sunday's final at the Van Der Valk Hotel in Nuland, as he joined the elite group of players to win back-to-back Players Championship.
The Scot had picked up the £6,000 first prize in Saturday's event in Holland, and repeated the achievement 24 hours later, putting himself alongside Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, Mervyn King, Robert Thornton and Wes Newton in winning both PDC ProTour events over a weekend.
He had counted himself lucky to escape a first round loss to young Dutchman Rico Dera, who led 5-2 before being clawed back by the 888.com Premier League Darts champion.
Anderson then defeated Michael Mansell, Adrian Gray and Co Stompe to reach the quarter-finals, where he mounted an even more impressive comeback against Dennis Smith.
Smith needed to defeat Anderson to win a qualifying place for the World Matchplay next month, and led 5-1 before the Scot hit back with five straight legs to take victory - landing a trio of 12-dart finishes in the process.
He then defeated Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals for a second successive day, courtesy of a 6-2 triumph, before facing in-form Smith in the decider.
Anderson took an early 2-0 lead thanks to finishes of double six and double eight before Smith hit back to level, courtesy of a 14-dart leg and a 116 finish.
Anderson, though, replied in 14 darts with a 96 checkout, and punished three missed doubles from Smith to win the sixth against the throw for a 4-2 lead.
Double four for a 15-darter saw him move 5-2 up, and although he missed a match dart as Smith landed tops to win a third leg and stay in the game, Anderson was too strong and sealed victory in 13 darts, hitting a 180 and double two for the win.
Fantastic
"I always seem to do well in Holland, for some reason, and it's fantastic for me to win both events," said Anderson. "It's a proud moment to win both events and to be in what people call an elite group.
"I made it hard for myself at times and in my first game I missed far too many doubles in going 5-2 down, but I managed to get that back and pip him, and I did the same against Dennis Smith.
"I enjoyed the final against Andy and it's a great way to prepare for the World Matchplay."
Smith had won a Players Championship last weekend in Barnsley, and added a further £3,000 prize money with his display in Nuland.
He came from 4-1 down to win his semi-final with Vincent van der Voort 6-5, taking out 120 to win the deciding leg, and also defeated Colin Osborne, Per Laursen and Steve Brown during the event.
Whitlock's run to the semi-finals saw him reach that stage for the sixth time this year, and included 6-4 wins over Steve Beaton and stable-mate James Wade in the latter stages as well as a narrow 6-5 victory against Devon Petersen.
Van der Voort also continued his impressive form this year by reaching the last four, following up Saturday's quarter-final with a semi-final appearance before going down to Smith, although £2,000 prize money was consolation for the Dutchman.
Beaton's run to the last eight saw him pick up £1,000 - which saw him jump into the Players Championship Order of Merit qualifying places for the World Matchplay next month, at the expense of Magnus Caris, who had occupied the final spot going into Sunday's event.
Caris had been defeated in a showdown with Andy Hamilton in Sunday's first round, as the former Blackpool semi-finalist was left clinging on to his spot in the World Matchplay.
Hamilton has slipped to 17th in the PDC Order of Merit, and lost 6-5 to Mensur Suljovic in the second round on Sunday to only claim £200 prize money, but when Dennis Smith's run was agonisingly ended by Anderson the Derby-based star was able to relax.
The day also featured a nine-dart finish for Justin Pipe, the first of his professional career, meaning the blow of going on to lose 6-4 to Colin Osborne was softened by a £400 bonus as he matched Simon Whitlock's perfect leg 24 hours earlier.
Osborne's win was amongst four he put together in reaching a second successive quarter-final to seal his World Matchplay qualification.
