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Anderson and Norris victorious at Players’ Championship

By Tom Sargent

Former world champion Gary Anderson won his first title of 2017 after beating Peter Wright 6-1 in the final of the PDC Players’ Championship II final at Barnsley Metrodome.

The Flying Scotsman claimed the £10,000 prize of the 128-player event and continued his solid start to the season after finishing second in the PDC World Championships.

Wright on the other hand, who was the top seed going into the tournament, had to settle for a £6,000 runner-up cheque.

Anderson was in enigmatic form, dropping just five legs in his first three matches before blasting past former World Youth Champion Michael Smith and Jelle Klaasen to reach the final.

Alan Norris meanwhile took home the PDC Players’ Championship I, and won his third PDC-ranking title in the process after beating Peter Jacques 6-1 in the final.

Norris had previously won a Players’ Championship event in Dublin and a European Tour event in Germany.

The deputising Jacques was denied a fairytale end to his ground-breaking run to the final. The postman from Huddersfield didn’t do enough to earn a tour card but has put himself in a strong position to top up the field for Players’ Championship events.

Norris has progressed steadily since making the switch from the BDO in 2015 and is currently ranked 18 in the world. He has previous experience of the Players’ Championship after he hit a nine-darter against Michael Smith at Butlins Minehead in November.

Norris told Darts.TV: “I was up for playing Michael and he didn’t play badly. It’s always a good game against him and the nine-darter helped me out tonight.

“I’m on home turf here – I’m Somerset born and bred – so to hit one on my home patch is happy days.”

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