Gary Anderson (darts Player) - 2011

2011

Anderson qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship as the number 11 seed and in the first round played Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto, who defeated Matt Padgett earlier that night in a preliminary match. Anderson won 3-0 in sets, taking all nine legs without reply, with a 66% success rate on the doubles and the highest tournament average at the time of 103.23. In the second round he faced two-time world champion Dennis Priestley, winning 4 sets to 2. He then defeated Andy Smith in the third round, van Barneveld in the quarter-finals, and Terry Jenkins in the semi-finals to ensure his place in the 2011 final against Adrian Lewis. Anderson was defeated 7-5 by Lewis, who also hit a nine-dart finish during the first set of the match. Despite the loss, Anderson's run ensured him a place in the 2011 Premier League.

Anderson was the number 2 seed for the 2011 Players Championship Finals, and reached his second successive major final, where he played Phil Taylor. Anderson had led 11-9 in the final but Taylor checked out 128 in a deciding leg to win 13-12.

Anderson had automatically qualified for the 2011 Premier League after rising to number 4 in the world after his performances in recent tournaments. He got off to a winning start by beating Simon Whitlock 8-5 on the opening night at the O2 Arena. He went on to win his first four Premier League games before losing to Phil Taylor in week five. Anderson finished the group stage in third place and played Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-final, winning 8-6. Anderson then defeated Adrian Lewis (who had beaten Taylor 8-3 in the other semi-final) 10-4 to win his first major championship in the PDC, his fourth in total, and his first in the UK having had his previous successes in Holland.

After his Premier League success Anderson's form began to descend. He suffered quick exits in some of the PDC's premier events. During the fourth night of the World Matchplay he was beaten in his second round match against Andy Hamilton, then the same fate happened once again during the European Championship, this time he was beaten by Peter Wright.

He won Pro Tour events in Crawley, Nuland and Derby.

In the first round of the World Grand Prix he faced Richie Burnett and lost 2-1 in sets.

Anderson reached the final of the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts, but was beaten 16-4 in legs by Phil Taylor.

He was named as the Best PDC ProTour Player, having won seven Players Championships and UK Open Qualifiers during 2011 to claim £62,400 prize money in non-televised tournaments.

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