BURNHAM-BASED darts star Gary Anderson failed in his bid to win the Players' Championship at Minehead over the weekend.

Playing near the top of his game, Anderson peppered the board with a series of 180s and rapid finishes to make his way to the semi-final on Sunday in front of packed audiences.

There, he came up against arch rival and world number 1 Michael van Gerwen and the two produced an epic best of 21 of the highest quality.

van Gerwen couldn't live with Anderson as he took a 3-0 lead which included an 11-darter.

But the Dutchman won the next three and it was nip-and-tuck all the way in.

Being 8-9 down with van Gerwen's throw to come, Anderson battled back to level at 9-9 in front of the partisan crowd.

However, a poor six darts in the following leg allowed van Gerwen to take the leg and finish the match 11-9 with a flourish.

It was a contest of the highest quality - Anderson averaged 103, hitting five 180s, while van Gerwen was on 102 and four maximums.

Earlier in the weekend, Anderson cruised through the earlier rounds, averaging 108 against Alan Tabern with a series of 11-darters, then knocking out Simon Whitlock 6-1 (av 105), Joe Cullen 10-2 and Jonny Clayton 10-4 in the quarter-final.

The fortunes of last week's darting villain Gerwyn Price went from good to bad as he let a 5-1 lead slip to a 6-5 defeat against Krzysztof Ratajski - much to the enjoyment of Anderson's supporters.

The Championship final produced an upset as the in-form Daryl Gurney won the last three legs to beat van Gerwen 11-9 and pick up the £100,000 first prize.

Anderson is back in Burnham preparing for the trip to London's Alexandra Palace for the World Championships from December 13.