KILLARNEY TRIUMPH FOR ANDERSON
GARY ANDERSON won his fourth title of 2010 with victory a 6-1 victory over Dennis Smith in the final of the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship.
The Scot bounced back impressively from his quarter-final loss to Phil Taylor a week ago in the Bodog.com World Grand Prix by taking the main title at the Killarney Darts Festival and a £6,000 prize.
Anderson dropped just four legs in his first four games of the day at the INEC, defeating tony Manning, Kevin Dowling, Kevin McDine and Tony Eccles before seeing off Jamie Caven 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
He was made to work all the way by Wales^ Richie Burnett in the semis, coming from 4-3 and 5-4 down to win 6-5 before defeating Smith in the final.
Smith took the game^s second leg to level, but Anderson broke in the fourth for a 3-1 lead and hit two 180s in the next to move three legs clear, before winning the next two to take the title.
Smith claimed £3,000 as runner-up as he reached his first ranking final since November 2004 to further improve his chances of qualifying for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
He began the day with wins over Steve Grubb and Ian Dobson before defeating Adrian Lewis 6-1 and Ronnie Baxter 6-2.
A 6-1 win over Barrie Bates booked his semi-final spot, and he then came from 3-2 down to see off Colin Osborne 6-4.
Burnett^s run to the semis saw him reach that stage in a ranking event for the first time since April 2006, and included a win over fellow Welshman Mark Webster and Alex Roy, who had knocked out number one seed Simon Whitlock.
Osborne enjoyed an appearance in only his second semi-final since April as he defeated Mareno Michels, Ian White, Steve Hine, Wes Newton and Joe Cullen.
Cullen^s quarter-final appearance nudges him closer to a World Championship debut and included a 6-5 win over world number one Phil Taylor in the last 16, as the youngster claimed his first victory against the 15-time World Champion.
Barrie Bates was a second Welshman in the quarters, having overcome Jelle Klaasen and Colin Lloyd, while Nigel Heydon improves his standing amongst the provisional World Championship qualifiers.
Whitlock had begun the weekend with victory over Phil Taylor in the final of the Gleneagle Irish Masters, but was unable to repeat the performance on Sunday as he went out to Roy in the first round.
John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship
Preliminary Round
Peter Waters 6-2 Arthur Power
James Buckley 6-4 Robert Bracken
Daragh Flanagan 6-4 Kevin McCann
Mark Howard 6-2 Arthur Lonergan
Padraig Hester 6-1 Gary Crondon
Kieran O^Neill 6-3 David French
Darren Clifford 6-1 Phil Standing
David Bradley 6-5 Robbie Moore
Kieran Kehoe 6-2 David Murphy
Colin Monk 6-4 Stephen Henerhan
Craig Sproat 6-5 Sean Marshall
Andy Jenkins 6-3 John Dunne
Michael Timone 6-2 Noel Bowes
Ian Dobson 6-0 Paul McGee
Mick Egan 6-0 Shane O^Hara
Eamon Carey 6-2 John O^Shea
James Broderick 6-1 Ken Moran
John Hannon 6-1 Kevin Walsh
Michael Byrne 6-1 Jason McCann
Joe Cullen 6-1 Martin Murphy
First Round
Alex Roy 6-4 Simon Whitlock (1)
Keith Crook 6-3 Noel Canning
Richie Burnett (32) 6-1 Anthony Boyle
Dave Ladley 6-1 Peter Waters
Mark Webster (16) 6-0 Billy McAuliffe
Anthony McMahon 6-2 Griffin Smith
Brendan Dolan (17) 6-2 Tony Randell
Daragh Flanagan 6-0 James Buckley
Andy Hamilton (8) 6-2 Denis McCarthy
Adrian Gray 6-1 Jon Archer
Nigel Heydon (25) 6-0 John Digan
Mark Howard 6-0 AJ Daly
Steve Beaton (9) 6-1 Ryan Herrington
David Stack 6-4 Kevin McDonnell
Steve Maish (24) 6-2 Darren Johnson
Padraig Hester 6-1 Sean Lahiff
Jamie Caven (5) 6-0 Dan Leen
Noel Redmond 6-3 Stephen O^Connor
Scott Rand 6-5 Steve Evans (28)
Kieran O^Neill 6-1 John-Paul Dowdall
Alan Tabern (12) 6-0 Mark Willis
Ali Powell 6-0 Laurence Collins
Justin Pipe (21) 6-1 Aodhagan O^Neill
Darren Clifford 6-3 Billy Matthews
Gary Anderson (4) 6-1 Tony Manning
Kevin Dowling 6-4 Michael Dwyer
Kevin McDine (29) 6-0 John MaGowan
Dwayne McEvoy 6-3 David Bradley
Kevin Painter (13) 6-2 Benny Grace
William O^Connor 6-4 Arron Monk
Tony Eccles (20) 6-0 Ted Foxe
Colin Monk 6-4 Kieran Kehoe
Colin Lloyd (2) 6-0 Denis Corr
Jimmy Murphy 6-1 Jerry Coughlan
Kirk Shepherd (31) 6-2 Barney Reddy
Craig Sproat 6-0 Daragh Hennessy
Barrie Bates (15) 6-3 Peter Quinn
Ian McFarlane 6-0 Graham Keatinge
Jelle Klaasen (18) 6-0 Andy Relf
Michael Timone 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Adrian Lewis (7) 6-0 Mike O^Sullivan
John Nyhan 6-0 Des Byrne
Dennis Smith (26) 6-1 Steve Grubb
Ian Dobson 6-0 Tony Geraghty
Ronnie Baxter (10) 6-3 Peter Hudson
Alan Bennett 6-1 Tony McGregory
Peter Wright (23) 6-4 Tomas McGrath
Mick Egan 6-4 Jimmy Leahy
Wes Newton (6) 6-0 Martin Fleming
Liam Mongey 6-1 Damien Harrington
Mark Hylton (27) 6-2 Michael O^Sullivan
Eamon Carey 6-3 Jason Galway
Colin Osborne (11) 6-4 Mareno Michels
Ian White 6-2 Terence Meehan
Steve Hine (22) 6-0 Robert Kelly
Roland Scholten 6-2 James Broderick
Phil Taylor (3) 6-0 Tommy Kelly
Jason Cullen 6-2 Mick McGowan
Matt Clark (30) 6-4 Nick Fullwell
John Bracken 6-3 John Hannon
Paul Nicholson (14) 6-1 Patrick Burke
John O^Hara 6-2 John Donnellan
Michael van Gerwen (19) 6-0 Jim McKevitt
Joe Cullen 6-1 Michael Byrne
Second Round
Alex Roy 6-1 Keith Crook
Richie Burnett 6-2 Dave Ladley
Mark Webster 6-2 Anthony McMahon
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Daragh Flanagan
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Adrian Gray
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Mark Howard
Steve Beaton 6-0 David Stark
Steve Maish 6-5 Padraig Hester
Jamie Caven 6-4 Noel Redmond
Scott Rand 6-1 Kieran O^Neill
Alan Tabern 6-0 Ali Powell
Justin Pipe 6-2 Darren Clifford
Gary Anderson 6-0 Kevin Dowling
Kevin McDine 6-0 Dwayne McEvoy
William O^Connor 6-4 Kevin Painter
Tony Eccles 6-0 Colin Monk
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Jimmy Murphy
Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Craig Sproat
Barrie Bates 6-4 Ian McFarlane
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Michael Timone
Adrian Lewis 6-2 John Nyhan
Dennis Smith 6-3 Ian Dobson
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Alan Bennett
Peter Wright 6-1 Mick Egan
Wes Newton 6-0 Liam Mongey
Mark Hylton 6-0 Eamon Carey
Colin Osborne 6-4 Ian White
Steve Hine 6-2 Roland Scholten
Phil Taylor 6-1 Jason Cullen
Matt Clark 6-1 John Bracken
Paul Nicholson 6-0 John O^Hara
Joe Cullen 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Losers £200
Third Round
Richie Burnett 6-1 Alex Roy
Mark Webster 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Nigel Heydon 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Steve Beaton 6-4 Steve Maish
Jamie Caven 6-3 Scott Rand
Justin Pipe 6-3 Alan Tabern
Gary Anderson 6-0 Kevin McDine
Tony Eccles 6-1 William O^Connor
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Barrie Bates 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Dennis Smith 6-1 Adrian Lewis
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Peter Wright
Wes Newton 6-4 Mark Hylton
Colin Osborne 6-3 Steve Hine
Phil Taylor 6-0 Matt Clark
Joe Cullen 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Richie Burnett 6-4 Mark Webster
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Steve Beaton
Jamie Caven 6-5 Justin Pipe
Gary Anderson 6-2 Tony Eccles
Barrie Bates 6-4 Colin Lloyd
Dennis Smith 6-2 Ronnie Baxter
Colin Osborne 6-5 Wes Newton
Joe Cullen 6-5 Phil Taylor
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Richie Burnett 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jamie Caven
Dennis Smith 6-1 Barrie Bates
Colin Osborne 6-2 Joe Cullen
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-5 Richie Burnett
Dennis Smith 6-4 Colin Osborne
Losers £1,500
Final
Gary Anderson 6-1 Dennis Smith
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000