Anderson humbles Huybrechts at home, Taylor loses again

Luke Sheehan

Anderson humbles Huybrechts at home, Taylor loses again image

Gary Anderson marked his competitive return to Scotland with a thrilling win over Kim Huybrechts in the Premier League Darts on Thursday.

The reigning PDC world champion thrilled the Glasgow crowd with a 7-5 victory over bottom-placed Huybrechts.

Anderson broke his Belgian opponent in the third leg of their encounter, and did not break stride thereafter - missing double 12 for a nine-dart finish in the 12th leg, which would have wrapped up the contest in perfect fashion.

The Scotsman returned to seal his fifth win in seven league outings to sit second on 10 points - two behind unbeaten leader Michael van Gerwen.

Van Gerwen won an unusually scrappy contest over Dave Chisnall 7-4, the pair failing to produce a match worthy of their standing.

Coming into the night, Van Gerwen and Chisnall occupied the top two spots in the standings - the latter falling to third after Anderson's win.

Chisnall averaged just over 90, while Van Gerwen (93.18) was not his usual self - but the Dutchman still advanced with relative ease.

Raymond van Barneveld climbed out of the relegation zone with a 7-4 win over Phil Taylor.

Taylor, a 16-time world champion, suffered his second straight loss despite averaging over 115, but he held his spot in the top four from James Wade.

In his 100th Premier League appearance, Wade drew 6-6 with Adrian Lewis - who fell into the bottom two after Van Barneveld's victory.

Wade (103.79) and Lewis (102) had ton-plus averages in their stalemate.

Peter Wright came from 5-1 down to earn a 6-6 draw against Stephen Bunting.

Scotsman Wright is unbeaten in five outings, moving to six points - above eighth-placed Van Barneveld and ninth-placed Lewis (both five) with two rounds to play before relegation.

Luke Sheehan