PDC World Championship 2016: Anderson defends title

Gary Anderson lifted the Sid Waddell trophy for the second time in a row after defeating Adrian Lewis 7-5 in the PDC's 2016 William Hill World Darts Championship final at Alexandra Palace in London.

Here, we have the full story, the final statistics and a set-by-set breakdown, video reaction and highlights, the full tournament results & stats, the PDC World Championship history, a full roll of honour and a list of the event's nine-dart finishes... 

Gary Anderson beats Adrian Lewis 7-5

Gary Anderson defended his PDC World Darts Championship title with a 7-5 victory over Adrian Lewis at Alexandra Palace.

Anderson, who beat Phil Taylor 7-6 in the 2015 final, headed into Sunday night's showdown as the odds-on favourite and despite being pushed hard for much of the clash, the Scotsman was able to exact revenge on Lewis having lost to the two-time winner on this day in 2011.

The thrilling encounter was also a record breaker as the pair shared an incredible 34 180s - the most maximums in a professional match.

Anderson heads back home £300,000 richer but he had made a sluggish start on Sunday night, averaging in the 70s as Lewis breezed through the opening set.

However the 'Flying Scotsman' didn't take long to find his best form by taking six of the next seven legs, including two 11-darters in the second set to move into a 2-1 lead.

Anderson found himself 2-1 up in the fourth set but crucially miscounted after hitting single nine when aiming at double 12 and Lewis capitalised by stealing the leg and then took the next to level the match at 2-2.

The Englishman had his throw broken in the opening leg of set five but immediately hit back with a superb 131 checkout before the next two legs were shared after both players missed numerous double chances to break.

With neither players looking in particularly fluent form on the oche, Lewis then needed six attempts at a double before finally landing double five to move back in front in the final since taking the opener.   

Quality picked up instantly in the sixth set, with Jackpot landing two 180s on his way to breaking the Anderson throw with an 11-darter only for his opponent to hit back in the next leg before holding his throw and then taking out 86 on the bull to level the match at 3-3.

The 20th 180 of the match arrived in the seventh set as the players showed they had few problems finding the maximums but jittery finishing from Lewis allowed Anderson two breaks of throw before holding his nerve on double 10 to take a crucial 4-3 lead.

The next set was incredibly scrappy with Anderson going bust at one point when trying to finish from 86 but the 45-year-old still took full advantage of Lewis' continuing failures on the doubles to take it 3-0 and open up a two-set lead.

It was then Anderson's turn to falter at the crunch moments as his opponent broke throw to go 2-0 up before taking out 121 to cut the deficit in sets.

The 30-year-old was still relentlessly firing in the 180s but more poor finishing allowed Anderson to take a foot hold in the next before checking out from 108 to restore his two-set lead and move one away from victory.

Lewis dug deep as he attempted to show the same fighting spirit that Raymond van Barneveld showed against him in the semi-final and broke the Anderson throw to move 2-0 up before taking out 74 with the darts to increase the pressure on the Scotsman.

A stunning 12-dart leg against the throw gave Lewis early momentum to the start of set 12 but Anderson then checked out from 64 to promptly restore parity.

The defending champion then lit up Alexandra Palace to take out the best possible finish of 170 to move one leg away from glory before getting the job done by hitting double 12 in the next to get his hands on the biggest prize in darts for the second year on the trot.

Anderson was delighted after lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy and collecting the winners' cheque of £300,000 to add to the £15,000 nine-dart bonus he had won for his perfect nine-dart leg in his semi-final win against Jelle Klaasen 24-hours earlier.

He told www.pdc.tv: "The way I've played in the tournament, I think I've deserved this. It never really clicked but there was some great darts. I can't remember the 170 checkout but if you're going for it you need the leg so it was important. It's great to have defended the title. It feels like fantastic and I did it at probably 85 percent of my best game.

"I've got the trophy for another 12 months at least. It would be lovely to make it a hat-trick next year and do something really special but I'm not getting any younger. I'll keep plodding on and see what happens."

Lewis said: "I thought it would go all the way until he took out the 170," said Lewis, who averaged over 100 and rattled in 19 180s as he tasted defeat in a World Championship final for the first time.

"I've been practicing hard for the last two or three our months and it's helped me improve towards the end of this year. Let's see how good I can be next year. I've started stepping up my game again. Michael van Gerwen has been the best player in the last year and Gary has been the best in this tournament but I'm not too far away.

"I don't think either of us really played our very best darts but I was playing really well towards the end and when he took that 170 out it probably just finished me off. Fair play to him. It is a great achievement. Even though I'm disappointed, it has been a successful tournament for me. I'm back up to number three in the world rankings and this has really kick-started my year." 

Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis: Set-By-Set Breakdown

• In-running set score in brackets

SET ONE: Adrian Lewis 3-1 Gary Anderson (1-0)
Lewis landed double eight to take the final's first leg but Anderson pinned double ten to level after his opponent had missed three darts to break. Lewis finished 40 in each of the next two legs to seal the first set.

SET TWO: Lewis 0-3 Anderson (1-1)
Anderson landed his first 180 and completed an 11-darter with an 81 finish. He then took out 60 to break and fired in another 11-dart leg, finishing on 41 to level the final.

SET THREE: Lewis 1-3 Anderson (1-2)
Lewis scored a 180 and pinned double eight but Anderson landed double top, double ten and double six to take the set and the lead in the match.SET FOUR: Lewis 3-2 Anderson (2-2)
Anderson defied Lewis' fourth 180, which was a World Championship record 626th maximum in the tournament, by taking out 121 but he miscounted his finish in the following leg, allowing Lewis to peg double eight. Anderson bedded double 18 but Lewis levelled n double 16 before grabbing a crucial break of throw with a 77 finish.

SET FIVE: Lewis 3-2 Anderson (3-2)
Anderson's third maximum helped him go ahead but Lewis levelled with a sublime 131 finish. The pair then exchanged 180s before Lewis pinned double ten and they both started the fourth leg with maximums as Anderson landed double 18 to force a decider. Lewis kicked in with his seventh 180 and eventually nailed double five to wrestle back the lead in the match.

SET SIX: Lewis 1-3 Anderson (3-3)
Lewis hit back-to-back 180s on the way to completing an 11-darter to break with an 83 finish. Anderson broke straight back on double five before bedding tops and pinning the bull for an 86 checkout as the match became tied once again.

SET SEVEN: Lewis 1-3 Anderson (3-4)
Anderson pegged double seven to go ahead with a break of throw but Lewis took out 81 to reply in kind. Both players hit 180s in the followng leg, which Anderson won on double six for a third straight break. When Lewis missed two darts to save the set, Anderson landed double ten to go back ahead.

SET EIGHT: Lewis 0-3 Anderson (3-5)
Anderson reeled off three straight legs despite Lewis hitting his 12th and 13th 180s as the defending champion moved two sets ahead for the first time in the match.

SET NINE: Lewis 3-0 Anderson (4-5)
Lewis finished 76, 20 and a brilliant 121 to win the ninth set in three legs, moving back within one of his opponent.

SET 10: Lewis 0-3 Anderson (4-6)
Anderson finished 86 and then pinned double 12 to break before a brilliant 108 checkout moved the world number two within one set of victory.

SET 11: Lewis 3-0 Anderson (5-6)
A fourth straight set was won 3-0 as Lewis pulled back within a set of Anderson, upping his 180 tally to 16 and producing clinical finishes of 81 and 74.

SET 12: Lewis 1-3 Anderson (5-7)
Lewis hit his 17th and 18th 180 as he broke Anderson's throw on double 16. Lewis 19th maximum was in vain, though as Anderson broke back with a neat 64 checkout. He then produced a sensational 170 checkout before landing double 12 - the same double that won him his first World Championship title a year ago - to complete his incredible defence of the Sid Waddell Trophy.

Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis: Tournament Statistics

Information from www.pdc.tv/home

ADRIAN LEWIS

1st Rd- 3-0 v Dekker, 99.53 Average, 6 180s, 9/18 Finishing (50%), 164 High Finish
2nd Rd - 4-0 v Gilding, 103.52, 8 180s, 12/21 (57%), 84
3rd Rd - 4-0 v Suljovic, 98.69, 4 180s, 12/30 (40%), 161
QF - 5-2 v Wright, 102.51, 8 180s, 18/42 (43%), 98
SF- 6-3 v Van Barneveld, 99.55, 15 180s, 23/64 (36%), 121
Final - 5-7 v Anderson, 100.23, 19 180s, 19/50 (38%) 131
Overall - 27-12 Sets, 100.67, 60 180s, 93/225 (41%), 164

GARY ANDERSON

1st Rd - 3-0 v Boulton, 99.55, 3 180s, 9/26 (35%), 81
2nd Rd - 4-1 v Gurney, 99.15, 8 180s, 14/36 (39%), 170
3rd Rd - 4-1 v Van der Voort, 101.58, 7 180s, 12/30 (40%), 121
QF - 5-1 v Wade, 105.25, 10 180s, 16/30 (53%), 90
SF - 6-0 v Klaasen, 107.32, 8 180s, 18/38 (47%), 142
Final - 7-5 v Lewis, 99.26, 15 180s, 26/60 (43%) 170
Overall - 29-7 Sets, 102.02, 51 180s, 95/220 (43%), 170

Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis: Final Statistics

GARY ANDERSON 7-5 ADRIAN LEWIS

53 - 100s - 40
28 - 140+ - 28
3 - 170+ - 4
15 - 180s - 19
99.26 - Average - 100.23
170 - High Finish - 131
11 - Breaks of Throw - 8
43% (26/50) - Checkout % - 38% (19/50)  

PDC World Championship 2016: Tournament Statistics

In addition to the record breaking number of maximums in the final, there were also more 180s hit throughout the 2016 World Championship than any previous staging of the tournament.

The sport's showpiece event saw 654 maximums landed, eclipsing the 625 180s that were hit in the 2015 tournament. Here are a selection of statistics:

Tournament Average: 92.97
Highest Average in a Match: 109.23 (Van Gerwen)
First Three Darts Average: 101.01 
Highest in a Match: 132.94 (Michael Smith)
First Nine Darts Average: 303.08
Highest in a Match: 371.63 (Michael Smith)Highest Checkout: 170 (Rodriguez, Anderson, Taylor, Klaasen, Van Gerwen)
Tournament Checkout Average: 37.80%
Highest in a Match: 83.33% (Jan Dekker)Total 180s: 654
180s Per Match: 9.21
180s Per Leg: 0.49
One 180 every: 2.04 Legs
Tournament 100+: 3257
Tournament 140+: 1712
Tournament 170+: 87Total Sets Played: 319
Total Legs Played: 1332Legs Won On Throw: 827 (62.09%)
Legs Won Against Throw: 505 (37.91%)

PDC World Championship 2016 Tournament Results

Preliminary Round (Best of three sets, No tie-break)
Michael Rasztovits (Austria) 0-2 Rob Szabo (New Zealand)
Keita Ono (Japan) 2-0  Alex Tagarao (Philippines)
Warrick Scheffer (South Africa) 0-2 John Michael (Greece)
Qiang Sun (China) 0-2 Mick McGowan (Ireland)
Aleksandr Oreshkin (Russia) 2-1 Paul Lim (Singapore)
Kim Viljanen (Finland) 2-1 Sven Groen (Netherlands)
Andy Boulton (England) 2-1  Per Laursen (Denmark)
Thanawat Gaweenuntawong (Thailand) 0-2 Rene Eidams (Germany)

First Round (Best of five sets)
Michael van Gerwen (1) 3-2 Rene Eidams
John Henderson (32) 1-3 Darren Webster
Raymond van Barneveld (16) 3-0 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Stephen Bunting (17) 3-0 Jyhan Artut
Michael Smith (8) 3-2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Steve Beaton (25) 3-0 Koha Kokiri
Ian White (9) 1-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Benito van de Pas (24) 3-1 Max Hopp
Adrian Lewis (5) 3-0 Jan Dekker
Andrew Gilding (28) 3-0 Gerwyn Price
Kim Huybrechts (12) 2-3 David Pallett
Mensur Suljovic (21) 3-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Peter Wright (4) 3-0 Keegan Brown
Dean Winstanley (29) 2-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Dave Chisnall (13) 3-0 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Justin Pipe (20) 0-3 Christian Kist
Gary Anderson (2) 3-0 Andy Boulton
Jamie Lewis (31) 1-3 Daryl Gurney
Vincent van der Voort (15) 3-0 Loz Ryder
Brendan Dolan (18) 0-3 Kyle Anderson
James Wade (7) 3-0 John Michael
Wes Newton (26) 3-1 Cristo Reyes
Simon Whitlock (10) 2-3 Ricky Evans
Jamie Caven (23) 3-0 Rob Szabo
Robert Thornton (6) 0-3 Alan Norris
Andy Hamilton (27) 2-3 Joe Murnan
Terry Jenkins (11) 3-1 Darin Young
Mark Webster (22) 3-0 Mick McGowan
Phil Taylor (3) 3-0 Keita Ono
Kevin Painter (30) 3-0 Kim Viljanen
Mervyn King (14) 3-2 Aleksandr Oreshkin
Jelle Klaasen (19) 3-0 Joe Cullen

Second Round (Best of seven sets)
Ricky Evans 0-4 Jamie Caven
Dave Chisnall 4-1 Christian Kist
Gary Anderson 4-1 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 4-2 Steve Beaton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 2-4 Benito van de Pas
Vincent van der Voort 4-2 Kyle Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld 4-3 Stephen Bunting
James Wade 4-0 Wes Newton
Michael van Gerwen 4-0 Darren Webster
Alan Norris 4-1 Joe Murnan
Terry Jenkins 0-4 Mark Webster
David Pallett 3-4 Mensur Suljovic
Adrian Lewis 4-0 Andrew Gilding
Peter Wright 4-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Phil Taylor 4-1 Kevin Painter
Mervyn King 2-4 Jelle Klaasen

Third Round (Best of seven sets)
Michael Smith 4-0 Benito van de Pas
James Wade 4-1 Jamie Caven
Adrian Lewis 4-0 Mensur Suljovic
Gary Anderson 4-0 Vincent van der Voort
Michael van Gerwen 3-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright 4-3 Dave Chisnall
Alan Norris 4-1 Mark Webster
Phil Taylor 3-4 Jelle Klaasen

Quarter-Finals (Best of nine sets)
Alan Norris 4-5 Jelle Klaasen
Gary Anderson 5-1 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 5-4 Michael Smith
Adrian Lewis 5-2 Peter Wright
Click here for a full round-up

Semi-Finals (Best of 11 sets)
Raymond van Barneveld 3-6 Adrian Lewis
Jelle Klaasen 0-6 Gary Anderson

Final (Best of 13 sets)
Adrian Lewis 5-7 Gary Anderson

Prize Fund

Winner £300,000
Runner-Up £150,000
Semi-Finalists £70,000
Quarter-Finalists £35,000
Third Round Losers £22,000
Second Round Losers £15,000
First Round Losers £10,000
Preliminary Round Losers £4,250
Total £1,500,000
Nine-Dart Bonus £15,000  

PDC World Darts Championship History: Finals

1994 - Dennis Priestley 6-1 Phil Taylor
1995 - Phil Taylor 6-2 Rod Harrington
1996 - Phil Taylor 6-4 Dennis Priestley
1997 - Phil Taylor 6-3 Dennis Priestley
1998 - Phil Taylor 6-0 Dennis Priestley
1999 - Phil Taylor 6-2 Peter Manley
2000 - Phil Taylor 7-3 Dennis Priestley
2001 - Phil Taylor 7-0 John Part
2002 - Phil Taylor 7-0 Peter Manley
2003 - John Part 7-6 Phil Taylor
2004 - Phil Taylor 7-6 Kevin Painter
2005 - Phil Taylor 7-4 Mark Dudbridge
2006 - Phil Taylor 7-0 Peter Manley
2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 7-6 Phil Taylor
2008 - John Part 7-2 Kirk Shepherd
2009 - Phil Taylor 7-1 Raymond van Barneveld
2010 - Phil Taylor 7-3 Simon Whitlock
2011 - Adrian Lewis 7-5 Gary Anderson
2012 - Adrian Lewis 7-3 Andy Hamilton
2013 - Phil Taylor 7-4 Michael van Gerwen
2014 - Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Peter Wright
2015 - Gary Anderson 7-6 Phil Taylor
2016 - Gary Anderson 7-5 Adrian Lewis

PDC World Darts Championship Most Titles

Phil Taylor - 14
Gary Anderson - 2
Adrian Lewis - 2
John Part - 2
Michael van Gerwen - 1
Raymond van Barneveld - 1
Dennis Priestly - 1

PDC World Darts Championship Nine-Dart Finishes

Raymond van Barneveld - 2009 (QF v win v Jelle Klaasen)
Raymond van Barneveld - 2010 (2nd Rd win v Brendan Dolan)
Adrian Lewis - 2011 (Final win v Gary Anderson)
Dean Winstanley - 2013 (2nd Rd loss v Vincent van der Voort)
Michael van Gerwen - 2013 (SF win v James Wade)
Terry Jenkins - 2014 (1st Rd loss v Per Laursen)
Kyle Anderson - 2014 (1st Rd loss v Ian White)
Adrian Lewis - 2015 (3rd Rd loss v Raymond van Barneveld)
Gary Anderson - 2016 (SF win v Jelle Klaasen)