Australian ace Kyle Anderson recorded the highest ever average in darting history yesterday, in the fifth Players Championship event in Barnsley. Anderson despatched Terry Jenkins 6-1 courtesy of an astonishing 134.84 average, where he used just 77 darts to secure victory!
Anderson’s winning legs consisted of three 10 darters, as well as an 11, 12 and 15 darter. The 27-year-old, from Perth, was even sat on 46 after 9 darts in the solitary leg that Jenkins won. The news of the earth-shattering performance only filtered through on Sunday evening, as one of the official Pro Tour markers, tweeted to confirm Anderson’s record-breaking achievement.
This usurps the previous record over this format, set by Gary Anderson against Aaron Monk in 2011. The Flying Scotsman averaged 133.35 in a 6-1 demolition of the former World Youth Champion. Michael Smith boasts an incredible 132.50 average posted on the PDC Youth Tour against Michael van Gerwen, but that was only achieved over three legs. This also completely obliterates the highest ever televised average of 118.66, set by Phil Taylor in a brutal 9-0 rout of Kevin Painter in the 2011 UK Open.
The Australian has enjoyed a fine start to 2015, climbing to 47th in the PDC order of Merit. He reached the last 16 of the Coral UK Open, where he suffered an agonising 9-8 defeat to Mervyn King, while he also had a fine run to the semi-final in Friday’s Players Championship event, beating Steve Beaton and Simon Whitlock en route. He also inflicted a rare tour defeat on Michael van Gerwen, beating MvG 6-5 in the previous Pro Tour weekend.
Anderson has always been renowned for his powerful scoring, but his doubling has been known to let him down on occasion. However, he has improved that element of his game and is now reaping the rewards. He has yet to really have his ‘breakthrough moment’ on the television cameras, but he memorably hit a 9-darter against Ian White in the 2014 World Championships, which gave fans an indication of his immense natural ability.
Sunday’s Players Championship event was won by Adrian Lewis, who enjoyed an extremely profitable weekend in Barnsley. Jackpot, fresh from successive Premier League victories, won Friday’s event, reached the final on Saturday where he lost to MvG, before beating Brendan Dolan 6-5 in yesterday’s curtain-raiser. However, while Lewis deservedly takes the plaudits for an incredible weekend, Kyle Anderson deserves huge recognition for an achievement that may not be bettered for some considerable time.
Thanks very much for the article. So pleased that Kyle’s beginning to settle in on the pro tour.
No worries mate; glad you enjoyed it! Kyle’s form has improved massively in 2015, since he chose to base himself in the UK! What do you think he can achieve this year mate?!
Wow, that’s insanely high! Not bad from Jenkins to win a leg in this match either.. 🙂
I know mate; incredible standard! Jenkins won the first leg of the match with a 121 finish for a 12-darter. Kyle was sat on 46 after 9 darts to break! Poor Terry!