Over 17,000 fans set a new attendance record at the ELTEN Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen this weekend and showed why the Glaspalast is one of the institutions of the Winamax PDC European Tour.
To thunderous applause, Gary Anderson crowned himself champion with a clear 8 – 0 win over Andrew Gilding.
This makes him the first player to defend his title in Sindelfingen.
“That was a very good weekend. Playing against these guys is very difficult. I’ve known Andrew for many years. He is fantastic. There are so many great young players on the rise – Gian van Veen, Luke Littler, Luke Humphries: I’m very happy that I can play with them and keep up. I’m a very, very proud Scot and I get a lot of support in Scotland. The crowd here has surpassed that,” said Anderson after his victory.
Gary Anderson played an outstanding tournament. In his opening victory over Gian van Veen, he showed remarkable comeback qualities and scored an outstanding average of 110.16 points. He also gave Rob Cross, Martin Lukeman and Dirk van Duijvenbode no chance on his way to the final.
For Andrew Gilding it was the second European Tour final of his career after the Belgian Darts Trophy 2022. In his victory over Danny Noppert, he averaged over 110 points, his highest TV average:
“After the quarter-finals, I said that I would end up holding the trophy in my hands, but Gary obviously had something to prove by defending his title. The final today is very important for me in terms of the rankings, especially as I’ve been eliminated early in previous European Tour events,” said Gilding, summarising his performance.
Two Germans also caused a stir: Leon Weber made a good impression on his European Tour debut. The 22-year-old won 6 – 3 against the in-form Ryan Joyce in the first round. In the second round, the player from the Westerwald had to admit defeat to an outstanding Peter Wright.
Daniel Klose reached the second European Tour round of 16 of his career. He was already 5 – 2 in front against Michael Smith, but finally lost in a dramatic match (5 – 6 defeat).
The Winamax European Tour takes a short break before the Dutch Darts Championship takes place from 23 – 25 May in Rosmalen.
