ANDERSON EDGES OUT PIPE FOR GERMAN DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP WIN
Gary Anderson claimed his first ranking victory for over two years with a thrilling 6-5 defeat of Justin Pipe in the German Darts Championship final on Sunday night.
The Scot, whose last title came in a Players Championship in Holland in September 2011, made an ideal start to 2014 by taking the £20,000 European Tour title at Halle 39 in Hildesheim.
Anderson had kicked off his challenge in the 48-player tournament with a brilliant second round whitewash of Irish debutant Glenn Spearing, where he averaged 108.65, before he enjoyed 6-4 wins over Wayne Jones, Ian White and Ronnie Baxter in reaching the final.
There, he enjoyed a see-saw contest with Pipe, who led 1-0 before hitting back from 2-1 down to win three successive legs as a 135 finish put him 4-2 up.
Anderson replied with a 14-dart leg, only for Pipe to take out a 13-darter as he moved to the brink of victory at 5-3 - but Anderson landed a 180 in the ninth as a 12-darter kept his hopes alive.
The tenth leg saw the tension hit both players as Pipe missed the bull for a 164 finish for the title and was also off-target with two darts at double eight as Anderson hit double one to force a deciding leg.
Pipe kicked off the final leg with a 180, but paid for three more missed match darts - with one at double 12 and two at double six going begging - to allow Anderson in to finish double ten for glory.
"It's been a long time coming but I'm delighted," said Anderson. "I've put a lot of hard work in since the World Championship and it's paying off for me. My first game was really good and I had some other great moments during the weekend. Maybe I got a bit lucky in the final and rode my luck a little bit, but it's great to win. It's a good start to the year and I'm determined to do well this year. I've dropped out of the top 16 and I want to get back in there and keep climing back into the top eight again."
Pipe was forced to settle for the £8,000 pound runner-up prize as he was denied a second European Tour victory, having taken the Austrian Darts Open title in 2012, but the world number 12 kicked off his bid to return to the world's top ten this year in style.
Having overcome Richie Burnett, Brendan Dolan, Paul Nicholson and John Part to reach the semi-finals, he claimed a dramatic 6-5 win over Jelle Klaasen with a thrilling 134 checkout.
Klaasen had claimed his spot in the last four, for the first time in a European Tour event, in equally dramatic style as he knocked out World Champion Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals after picking up a 6-4 win over Wes Newton earlier on Sunday.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld had knocked out world number four Adrian Lewis in the third round, but was defeated 6-2 by Ronnie Baxter in the quarter-finals as the Blackpool ace enjoyed his best finish in a European Tour event.
The PDC's second European Tour event of 2014 will take place in a fortnight as the NH Hotel Koningshof in Veldhoven hosts the Dutch Darts Masters, where 48 players will compete for the 100,000 pound prize fund from February 14-16.