GARY ANDERSON claimed his fifth PDC ProTour victory of 2011 with a 6-2 defeat of Peter Wright in the final of Sunday's Players Championship in Derby.The Scot continued his great form on the professional circuit with a brilliant display as he backed up June's Players Championship double-header in Holland with another triumph.
His run to the £6,000 title included victories over former World Champions Dennis Priestley, Mark Webster and John Part, as well as 6-1 defeats of Ireland's John O'Shea and Speedy Hire UK Open semi-finalist Denis Ovens.
The 888.com Premier League Darts champion showed his class in coming from 5-4 down to win his semi-final with Part, hitting two 180s in an 11-darter to force a deciding leg before landing another maximum in a 14-dart leg to take victory.
After securing an immediate break of throw in the final, he took out two classy 131 checkouts - hitting treble 17 and a pair of double tops on each occasion - as well as a 14-darter in taking a 4-1 lead against Wright.
The Lowestoft ace hit back to win the sixth leg, but Anderson restored his advantage with another 14-darter and punished three misses from Wright in the next to wrap up the win on double top.
Wright's display earned him £3,000 and saw him reach his first PDC ProTour final since April 2010 - which also came at the Moorways Centre in Derby, when he lost to Phil Taylor.
The world number 32 claimed the notable scalps of in-form duo Wes Newton and Paul Nicholson in the latter stages, as well as defeating Robert Thornton, Magnus Caris, Nick Fullwell and youngster Adam Smith-Neale on the day.
Part followed up Saturday's run to fourth final of the year by reaching the last four 24 hours later, while Nicholson led 5-4 in his semi-final with Wright before being overhauled.
Former Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship finalist Kirk Shepherd reached his first quarter-final on the circuit for 18 months, while Nigel Heydon was in the last eight for the first time since January after picking up wins over Tony Eccles, Mark Dudbridge, Simon Whitlock and Alex Roy.
Teenager Adam Smith-Neale and Mick Todd both reached the last 16 on the PDC ProTour for the first time since joining the circuit in January, with Newark's Todd defeating Saturday's Players Championship winner Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 in their first round game.
The next Players Championships will be held at the Van Der Valk Hotel in Nuland on September 24 & 25, and will be the final two events before the qualifiers for next month's World Grand Prix are confirmed
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