Gary Anderson was on top form as he claimed his first PDC title of the year at Players Championship 2 in Wigan on Tuesday, defeating Ryan Searle 8-5 in the final.

Anderson produced four ton-plus averages across the day and missed double 12 for a nine-darter on three occasions, the last of which came in the final leg of the final.

The Scot had already missed a dart for perfection earlier in the match, having also missed an attempt in his semi-final win over Peter Wright.

A 117.12 average in a 6-0 win over Andy Baetens in the fourth round is the highest ever recorded by Anderson, who defeated Raymond van Barneveld in the quarter-finals.

Anderson, who began the day with wins over Daniel Klose, Adam Gawlas and Daryl Gurney, scoops the £15,000 top prize which sees him rise two places to 25th on the PDC Order of Merit.

"It's always nice to win these events, especially the way I played today," said Anderson, who won three Players Championship titles in 2023.

"Yesterday I felt like a kid at a new school, I was nervous but today I felt more settled and it showed in my performances.

"It's been a long day and I'm happy to come out on top against a great player in Ryan.

"We've practiced together a couple of times since the World Championship, we spur each other on.

"He's a great guy, he just gets on with it and plays darts, he puts the effort in so it's nice to see him do well.

"I'll just carry on doing what I do, I'm in a good place in my life and I'm enjoy playing darts.

"I'm looking forward to playing the European Tour events as well this year and I want to keep my form going."

Another strong day from Searle saw him finish runner-up for a second successive day, having lost out to Luke Littler in the Players Championship 1 final.

Littler's first taste of defeat on the ProTour came in the second round as he went down 6-5 to Radek Szaganski.

Improved displays from Wright saw him reach his first ranking semi-final since October, while it was another day to forget for World Champion Luke Humphries who lost 6-5 to Jurjen van der Velde in round one.

Drawboard

Players Championship 2

Last 128

Jermaine Wattimena 6 | 2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Cameron Menzies 6 | 1 Lee Evans
Oskar Lukasiak 6 | 2 Dave Chisnall
Patrick Geeraets 6 | 4 Darren Beveridge
Peter Wright 6 | 3 Alan Soutar
James Hurrell 6 | 5 Ritchie Edhouse
Joe Cullen 6 | 3 Jules van Dongen
Michele Turetta 6 | 5 Owen Roelofs
James Wade 6 | 5 Ryan Meikle
Rob Owen 6 | 3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Danny Lauby 6 | 5 Michael Smith
Stephen Burton 6 | 4 Haupai Puha
Ryan Joyce 6 | 2 Thibault Tricole
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6 | 5 Christian Perez
Luke Littler 6 | 4 Danny Noppert
Radek Szaganski 6 | 5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Raymond van Barneveld 6 | 2 Simon Whitlock
William O'Connor 6 | 5 Geert Nentjes
Karel Sedlacek 6 | 4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Graham Hall 6 | 4 Aden Kirk
Gian van Veen 6 | 2 Adam Warner
Scott Williams 6 | 5 Robert Grundy
Ricardo Pietreczko 6 | 5 Owen Bates
Berry van Peer 6 | 2 Richie Burnett
Mike De Decker 6 | 2 Martijn Dragt
Andy Baetens 6 | 1 Stefan Bellmont
Josh Rock 6 | 3 Keane Barry
Mensur Suljovic 6 | 0 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Daryl Gurney 6 | 3 Darryl Pilgrim
Wessel Nijman 6 | 2 Jim Williams
Gary Anderson 6 | 3 Daniel Klose
Adam Gawlas 6 | 3 Steve Beaton
Chris Dobey 6 | 1 Matthew Dennant
William Borland 6 | 5 Nathan Rafferty
Jurjen van der Velde 6 | 5 Luke Humphries
Ricky Evans 6 | 2 Jacques Labre
Florian Hempel 6 | 3 Martin Schindler
Steve Lennon 6 | 5 Chris Landman
Stephen Bunting 6 | 3 Josh Payne
Martin Lukeman 6 | 2 Lukas Wenig
Callan Rydz 6 | 1 Gabriel Clemens
Danny Jansen 6 | 3 Benjamin Reus
Jonny Clayton 6 | 4 Robbie Knops
Leighton Bennett 6 | 2 Boris Krcmar
Jose De Sousa 6 | 5 Richard Veenstra
George Killington 6 | 1 Jamie Hughes
Ross Smith 6 | 5 Kim Huybrechts
Kevin Doets 6 | 4 Pascal Rupprecht
Arron Monk 6 | 5 Luke Woodhouse
Joshua Richardson 6 | 4 Vincent van der Voort
Damon Heta 6 | 2 Mickey Mansell
Adam Smith-Neale 6 | 1 Graham Usher
Andrew Gilding 6 | 5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Adam Hunt 6 | 0 Matt Campbell
Ryan Searle 6 | 3 Callum Goffin
Brett Claydon 6 | 3 Keegan Brown
Rhys Griffin 6 | 5 Brendan Dolan
Madars Razma 6 | 3 Ian White
Rob Cross 6 | 1 Mervyn King
Niels Zonneveld 6 | 3 Jelle Klaasen
Nathan Aspinall 6 | 3 Danny van Trijp
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6 | 0 Nick Kenny
Krzysztof Ratajski 6 | 4 Jitse Van der Wal
Paul Krohne 6 | 3 Dom Taylor

Last 64

Cameron Menzies 6 | 2 Jermaine Wattimena
Oskar Lukasiak 6 | 5 Patrick Geeraets
Peter Wright 6 | 5 James Hurrell
Michele Turetta 6 | 4 Joe Cullen
Rob Owen 6 | 5 James Wade
Danny Lauby 6 | 5 Stephen Burton
Ryan Joyce 6 | 4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Radek Szaganski 6 | 5 Luke Littler
Raymond van Barneveld 6 | 2 William O'Connor
Karel Sedlacek 6 | 5 Graham Hall
Gian van Veen 6 | 4 Scott Williams
Berry van Peer 6 | 5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Andy Baetens 6 | 4 Mike De Decker
Josh Rock 6 | 3 Mensur Suljovic
Daryl Gurney 6 | 3 Wessel Nijman
Gary Anderson 6 | 0 Adam Gawlas
Chris Dobey 6 | 2 William Borland
Ricky Evans 6 | 3 Jurjen van der Velde
Steve Lennon 6 | 5 Florian Hempel
Martin Lukeman 6 | 4 Stephen Bunting
Callan Rydz 6 | 5 Danny Jansen
Jonny Clayton 6 | 4 Leighton Bennett
Jose De Sousa 6 | 5 George Killington
Kevin Doets 6 | 3 Ross Smith
Arron Monk 6 | 4 Joshua Richardson
Adam Smith-Neale 6 | 4 Damon Heta
Adam Hunt 6 | 0 Andrew Gilding
Ryan Searle 6 | 4 Brett Claydon
Rhys Griffin 6 | 5 Madars Razma
Niels Zonneveld 6 | 5 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 6 | 2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Paul Krohne 6 | 5 Krzysztof Ratajski

Last 32

Cameron Menzies 6 | 1 Oskar Lukasiak
Peter Wright 6 | 5 Michele Turetta
Rob Owen 6 | 3 Danny Lauby
Ryan Joyce 6 | 2 Radek Szaganski
Raymond van Barneveld 6 | 4 Karel Sedlacek
Gian van Veen 6 | 3 Berry van Peer
Andy Baetens 6 | 4 Josh Rock
Gary Anderson 6 | 2 Daryl Gurney
Chris Dobey 6 | 5 Ricky Evans
Martin Lukeman 6 | 5 Steve Lennon
Callan Rydz 6 | 4 Jonny Clayton
Jose De Sousa 6 | 3 Kevin Doets
Arron Monk 6 | 3 Adam Smith-Neale
Ryan Searle 6 | 2 Adam Hunt
Niels Zonneveld 6 | 3 Rhys Griffin
Paul Krohne 6 | 5 Nathan Aspinall

Last 16

Peter Wright 6 | 2 Cameron Menzies
Rob Owen 6 | 4 Ryan Joyce
Raymond van Barneveld 6 | 4 Gian van Veen
Gary Anderson 6 | 0 Andy Baetens
Martin Lukeman 6 | 3 Chris Dobey
Callan Rydz 6 | 4 Jose De Sousa
Ryan Searle 6 | 1 Arron Monk
Niels Zonneveld 6 | 4 Paul Krohne

Quarter-Finals

Peter Wright 6 | 2 Rob Owen
Gary Anderson 6 | 3 Raymond van Barneveld
Martin Lukeman 6 | 2 Callan Rydz
Ryan Searle 6 | 4 Niels Zonneveld

Semi-Finals

Gary Anderson 7 | 5 Peter Wright
Ryan Searle 7 | 6 Martin Lukeman

Final

Gary Anderson 8 | 5 Ryan Searle