Sunday 4 January 2015 11:47, UK
Reigning world champion Michael van Gerwen is out of the PDC World Championships after Gary Anderson came through an epic semi-final 6-3 at Alexandra Palace.
The ‘Flying Scotsman’ averaged 102.20 to reach his second world final, punishing the No 1 seed with a finishing average of 50 per cent.
Anderson charged into a 2-0 lead but van Gerwen hit back with a hat-trick of 12-darters to spearhead a comeback that brought the match level at 3-3.
The turning point came in the eighth set when van Gerwen missed a dart at double eight which would have levelled the match at 4-4. Instead, Anderson checked out with a double top and won the next two sets to complete a famous 6-3 victory.
Anderson had said pre-match that all the pressure was on the defending world champion and his words seemed to ring true in the early stages, breaking the van Gerwen throw to take the opening set.
The Dutchman fell 2-0 behind in the second set as the Scot continued his relentless peppering of the treble 20. However, a classy a 138 finish in the third leg sprung the current champion into life. He then went onto bounce off two further 12-dart-legs, rounding the set off with bullseye finish to break the Anderson throw and level the match.
Anderson broke van Gerwen’s run of five straight legs in the third set when breaking his throw in the first leg after taking advantage of some sloppy finishing by his opponent. He kept his average above three figures to comfortably regain the outright lead 2-1 despite van Gerwen averaging a whopping 113.
The pace slowed slightly in the fourth set with the raucous crowd able to take a slight breather. It was a set that could have gone either way but it was the Scot who had the advantage of the darts and won a scrappy one 3-2.
A reaction from van Gerwen was needed and he responded by taking advantage of some below-par arrows from Anderson in the fifth set. The Dutchman punished him by taking out 78 to break throw and get within one leg.
The van Gerwen momentum continued in the sixth leg with Anderson’s scoring levels dropping but he still managed to get the leg to 2-2, only for a a 66 finish from the Dutchman to draw the match level at 3-3.
It was a similar story in the seventh leg but this time it was Anderson to throw the decisive dart at 2-2. Van Gerwen had missed four darts for a 4-3 lead when the Scot composed himself to take out 235 in six darts and get his nose back in front.
Anderson closed to within one set of the final by breaking the van Gerwen throw in the eighth set. Once again the world champion missed crucial darts at doubles in the fourth leg as Anderson’s brilliance at finding double top was on show again. His dart to win the set was his 14th successful attempt at double 20 from 17 throws.
Van Gerwen briefly threatened a comeback with a stunning 149 checkout in the final set but it was to be Anderson that had the last laugh, breaking the Dutchman’s throw in the last leg of the match.
