Phil Taylor beaten by Gary Anderson in Players Championship Finals
Saturday 28 November 2015 11:04, UK
Reigning world champion Gary Anderson came from behind to knock out Phil Taylor on the opening day of the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
The Scot won three of the last four legs to see off 16-time world champion Taylor 6-5 in a thrilling encounter at the Butlins Resort.
In the 11th and deciding leg, Anderson notched two maximums before hitting a double 10 to complete a 14-darter and set up a second round clash with Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney.
In a topsy-turvy encounter, Taylor missed a double 12 for a nine-darter as he moved 4-3 ahead.
The fifth leg proved crucial as Taylor missed two darts at double eight, allowing the defending champion to return to the oche to clinch it on double six.
Anderson is preparing to defend his world title at Alexandra Palace next month and the Players' Championship Finals is a last chance to tune up.
"The two 180s were huge for me in that final leg and pulled me out of the fire," said Anderson.
"I'm always happy to get over the finishing line, especially against Phil. It gets harder from here.
"There's a jinx going about that if you beat Phil then you go out in the next game or you don't go on to win the tournament, so hopefully that's wrong!"
His next opponent Gurney had earlier impressed on his debut, overcoming 2012 finalist Kim Huybrechts 6-2 with an average in excess of 100.
Gurney admitted: "I've been practising really hard so I'm happy to get the win there.
"Every game on TV is a little bit more experience and it's looking a little bit better than it was 12 months ago. I'm trying to be more dedicated and put more hours in because the players in the PDC are ruthless."
Michael van Gerwen overcame a scare against world youth champion Keegan Brown before moving through to the second round with a 6-4 victory.
The world No 1 and top seed was fully tested as Brown led twice during a see-saw contest.
In what was a key moment, Brown missed a double 18 in the ninth leg as van Gerwen moved 5-4 up, and the Dutchman went on to set up a second round meeting with Vincent van der Voort.
Van Gerwen said: "He finished really well at the beginning of the game and I was struggling.
"I can do a lot better but I'm through to the next round and it's a longer format and I feel more comfortable with that."
No 2 seed Michael Smith beat Jamie Caven 6-3, while Simon Whitlock capitalised on 19 missed doubles to beat Brendan Dolan.
James Wade won the battle of the left-handers, seeing off Mark Webster while Ian White edged a tight contest with Raymond van Barneveld and two-time world champion Adrian Lewis beat John Henderson 6-3, by winning the final four legs.
Watch the live draw for this year's World Darts Championship on Monday, from 10.30am on Sky Sports News HQ, and the draw will also be streamed for free on Skysports.com.
