Anderson whitewashes Gilding to retain European Darts Grand Prix

Gary Anderson retained the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix title with a comprehensive 8-0 victory over Andrew Gilding on Sunday evening.
 

Anderson ended his ten-year wait for a European Tour crown in last year’s Sindelfingen showpiece, and the Scottish icon continued his love-affair at the Glaspalast with another memorable triumph.
 

The 54-year-old produced a clinical display on the outer ring to secure the £30,000 top prize, punishing Gilding’s doubling woes to become the first player to successfully retain the European Darts Grand Prix.
 

Former UK Open champion Gilding squandered seven darts at double across the opening two legs, and that set the tone for a one-sided final.
 

Anderson conjured up a sensational 141 checkout in leg four, before following up an 84 finish on the bull with a brace of 14-darters to cap off a ruthless performance.
 

“I’m just glad that I can still come and play darts and compete with these boys,” declared Anderson, who celebrates his third European Tour success.
 

“I’ve played darts for over 30 years. I’ve played with the likes of Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow, and so many great players over the years.
 

“These youngsters that are coming through now, the likes of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen – darts is in a fantastic place.”
 

Anderson also paid tribute to the capacity crowd inside the Glaspalast, who roared the Scotsman on to his first big stage title since his victory in Sindelfingen just over a year ago.
 

“I’m a very proud Scotsman and I get a lot of support in Scotland, but this has outdone them,” admitted the two-time World Champion.
 

“It’s been absolutely fantastic. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much support.”
 

Anderson began his campaign with an epic victory against Gian van Veen on Saturday, averaging 110 and landing nine 180s to edge out the World Youth Champion in a dramatic finale.
 

After accounting for 2023 champion Rob Cross in the last 16, Anderson then won through another decider against Martin Lukeman, before averaging 106 in his semi-final demolition of Dirk van Duijvenbode.
 

Gilding, meanwhile, was denied in his bid to land a maiden European Tour title, despite producing a series of dominant displays to earn the £12,000 runner-up prize.
 

“I did say earlier I was going to lift the trophy, but Gary obviously had something to prove here today,” quipped world number 28 Gilding.
 

“In the last couple of European Tour events I went out in the first round, so this is huge for me.”
 

Following back-to-back deciding-leg wins over Gabriel Clemens and Jonny Clayton, Gilding produced his best-ever big-stage average to defeat Danny Noppert earlier in the day, averaging 110.77 on his way to a 6-3 victory.
 

The Suffolk star continued his charge with a thumping 6-1 win over 2017 winner Peter Wright, before closing out a resounding 7-3 success against Luke Woodhouse in the semi-finals.
 

Woodhouse dumped out Chris Dobey, Ross Smith and Michael Smith to advance to his first ranking semi-final of 2025, which provides a boost to his hopes of World Matchplay qualification.
 

Woodhouse was joined in the last four by a revitalised Van Duijvenbode, who followed up his first big stage victory over Michael van Gerwen by averaging 111 in a 6-2 thumping of German number one Martin Schindler.
 

The Dutchman then survived four match darts in his quarter-final win over James Wade, who reached the last eight alongside Grand Slam runner-up Lukeman, as well as former champions Wright and Smith.
 

The PDC European Tour returns later this month, as the Autotron in Rosmalen plays host to the Dutch Darts Championship from May 23-25, where reigning champion Josh Rock will be looking to retain the title.

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2025 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix

Sunday May 4
Afternoon Session
Third Round
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Gary Anderson 6-3 Rob Cross
James Wade 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Martin Schindler
Peter Wright 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Danny Noppert
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Ross Smith
Michael Smith 6-5 Luke Humphries