Gary Anderson beat Mensur Suljovic 21-19 in a thrilling World Matchplay final at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool to lift the inaugural Phil Taylor Trophy on a memorable night in the north west of England.
Former world champion Anderson was the pre-match favourite, but he has often admitted that he has found it tough against Austrian Suljovic, whose slowish play can take the top dart players out of their stride, but at 17-13 Anderson was just one leg away in the best-of-35-legs showpiece.
However, Suljovic showed the sort of battling qualities he has shown recently to move towards the top of the world rankings, and he managed to win the next four legs to level the scores at 17 apiece.
With the match now having to be won by two clear legs, it was Suljovic that pushed 18-17 in front, but Anderson was able to just find enough to get his nose in front and a double ten at 20-19 was another for the 'Flying Scotsman' to win the World Matchplay for the first time in his career, and he is now only one of a number of players to have won the triple crown.
After the dust settled on a thrilling week's darting action in Blackpool, all eyes then veered to the Alexandra Palace on Monday morning, as the tickets for the 2018 World Darts Championship went on sale on Monday morning at 10am, and it will see a new-look, bigger event take place in London during December, and it will see reigning champion Rob Cross try to retain his title, but Anderson, Suljovic and most notably Michael van Gerwen are sure to be leading contenders.
Hear what Gary Anderson had to say after his World Matchplay win:
