Gary Anderson thrills fans in Aberdeen

GARY Anderson delighted his home crowd in Scotland with a narrow defeat of Simon Whitlock in Aberdeen last night, as Raymond van Barneveld remained unbeaten as he swept aside Wes Newton.

Anderson bounced back from his loss to van Barneveld on the opening night of the Premier League a week ago with a heavy-scoring display against Whitlock – although he was left sweating following missed doubles before he finally closed out the win.

Whitlock led 2-0 and 3-1 only to see the home hope – roared on by a sell-out 4,000 crowd at the AECC – take five straight legs in moving 6-3 up. Whitlock took out a second 98 finish of the game as he hit back to take the next two legs and force a decider as Anderson missed six darts to end the contest, but the Australian missed tops for the match as the 2011 champion took out double 12 for the win.

Earlier in the night, van Barneveld continued his love affair with the Scottish crowds by averaging 100 in a superb 7-2 rout of newcomer Wes Newton.

The five-time world champion – who hit a nine-darter in Aberdeen three years ago – took out three ton-plus finishes to remain unbeaten after two games of the new season.

Andy Hamilton, a semi-finalist in last year’s Premier League, held off a fightback from 2009 champion James Wade as he took a 7-4 win.