European Tour Glory as Anderson defends his European Darts Grand Prix title.

Gary Anderson defeated Andrew Gilding 8-0 on Sunday night to reclaim the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix title.

In last year’s Sindelfingen spectacular, Anderson ended his ten-year quest for a European Tour title, and the Scottish legend maintained his love affair at the Glaspalast with yet another unforgettable victory.

The 54-year-old punished Gilding’s doubling troubles by putting on a clinical performance on the outer ring to win the £30,000 top prize and become the first player to win the European Darts Grand Prix again.

Gilding, the former champion of the UK Open, wasted seven darts at double in the first two legs, which led to a lopsided final.

In leg four, Anderson produced an incredible 141 checkout, and he finished on the bull with an 84 finish and two 14-darters to complete a vicious performance.

“I’m just glad that I can still come and play darts and compete with these boys,” declared Anderson, who celebrates his third European Tour success and his 55th PDC title.

“I’ve played darts for over 30 years. I’ve played with the likes of Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow, and so many great players over the years.

“These youngsters that are coming through now, the likes of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen – darts is in a fantastic place.”

Anderson also thanked the Glaspalast’s packed audience, who cheered the Scotsman on to his first major stage triumph since his triumph in Sindelfingen a little more than a year ago.

“I’m a very proud Scotsman and I get a lot of support in Scotland, but this has outdone them,” admitted the two-time World Champion.

“It’s been absolutely fantastic. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much support.”

Anderson began his campaign with a spectacular victory over Gian van Veen on Saturday, averaging 110 and landing nine 180s to defeat the World Youth Champion in a dramatic finish.

Anderson defeated 2023 champion Rob Cross in the last 16, then won another decider against Martin Lukeman before defeating Dirk van Duijvenbode in the semi-finals with an average of 106.

Gilding, meanwhile, was denied his first European Tour championship despite a sequence of dominating performances that earned him the £12,000 runner-up prize.

“I did say earlier I was going to lift the trophy, but Gary obviously had something to prove here today,” quipped the former UK Open champion.

“In the last couple of European Tour events I went out in the first round, so this is huge for me.”

Following back-to-back deciding-leg triumphs over Gabriel Clemens and Jonny Clayton, Gilding defeated Danny Noppert earlier in the day with his best-ever big-stage average of 110.77, winning 6-3.

The Suffolk star extended his winning streak with a 6-1 victory over 2017 winner Peter Wright, followed by a 7-3 victory over Luke Woodhouse in the semi-finals.

Woodhouse defeated Chris Dobey, Ross Smith, and Michael Smith to qualify to his second European Tour semi-final, boosting his chances of World Matchplay qualification.

Woodhouse was joined in the final four by a resurgent Van Duijvenbode, who backed up his maiden large stage victory over Michael van Gerwen with a 6-2 thrashing of German number one Martin Schindler.

The Dutchman then survived four match darts in his quarter-final victory over James Wade, who advanced to the last eight with Grand Slam runner-up Lukeman and former champions Wright and Smith.

European Tour Glory as Anderson defends his European Darts Grand Prix title.

Sunday May 4

Afternoon Session

Third Round

Martin Lukeman 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld

Gary Anderson 6-3 Rob Cross

James Wade 6-2 Niels Zonneveld

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Martin Schindler

Peter Wright 6-5 Cameron Menzies

Andrew Gilding 6-3 Danny Noppert

Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Ross Smith

Michael Smith 6-5 Luke Humphries

Evening Session

Quarter-Finals

Gary Anderson 6-5 Martin Lukeman

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 James Wade

Andrew Gilding 6-1 Peter Wright

Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Michael Smith

Semi-Finals

Gary Anderson 7-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Andrew Gilding 7-3 Luke Woodhouse

Final

Gary Anderson 8-0 Andrew Gilding