GARY ANDERSON DENIED Phil Taylor a 17th world title as he claimed his first PDC World Championship crown in a dramatic final on Sunday.
Anderson, who becomes the first Scot to lift the PDC crown, had lost the 2011 final to Adrian Lewis, but came out on top in an enthralling encounter at Alexandra Palace that finished 7-6.
Having led 3-1 and 6-4, Anderson was twice pegged back by Taylor, but showed tremendous mental strength to see out the match.
After missing the bull for a 130 checkout in the final leg, Anderson found double 12 at his next visit to lay his hands on the trophy for the first time.
Having won the bull-off, Taylor elected to give Anderson the darts and the Scot bookended the opening leg with two impressive check-outs of 120 and 121.
Anderson kicked off the second with a maximum on his way to establishing a 2-0 advantage in the set, but Taylor stormed back to take it 3-2, including an 11-dart fourth leg.
Anderson moved back in front in the match with a 3-1 win in the third and Taylor then missed nine darts at double in the opening leg of the fourth set, with Anderson pouncing to take control of the match, moving into a 3-1 lead.
But falling two sets behind appeared to spark Taylor into action, and the oldest player to reach the final won nine of the next 10 legs to go in front in the match for the first time.
Anderson responded superbly with a 3-2 win in the eighth, but the ninth set proved pivotal.
Anderson, who had problems with bounce-outs throughout the final, hit two treble 20s before remarkably knocking both out with his third dart in the opening leg.
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A disturbance in the crowd appeared to unsettle and distract Anderson as he went 2-0 down in the set, but the 44-year-old capitalsed on Taylor’s profligacy to pull himself back into the set.
Anderson took out two 140s and an 84 finish for an 11-dart fourth leg and completed an extraordinary turnaround with his first dart at double eight in the fifth.
He followed that up by taking the 10th set 3-1 to go 6-4 ahead in the match, and appeared to indicate he felt the encounter was all over as he left the stage.
Taylor had other ideas, though, and, after falling one short of a nine-dart finish at the beginning of the 11th set, won the next two sets to force a decider.
Three missed darts at double 16 from Taylor gave Anderson the chance to establish a 2-0 cushion in the final set, and the eventual victor left Taylor in his wake in the last leg.
