Andrew Gilding stuns Michael van Gerwen to win UK Open darts title

Andrew Gilding has stunned Michael van Gerwen in a final-leg decider to win the Cazoo UK Open in Minehead, claiming his first televised title at the age of 52.

It was the first time Gilding, ranked No 41 in the world before the event, had featured in a televised final while his opponent has claimed 45 major PDC titles. Van Gerwen made mistakes throughout the match, though, crucially missing five double attempts when he had a chance to extend his lead to 9-6.

Gilding fought back and edged out his illustrious opponent in thrilling fashion, taking the deciding leg in an 11-10 victory. The player known as “Goldfinger” threw seven 180s and had an average of 95.46 in the final, compared to Van Gerwen’s 96.74.

“I’ve played Michael many times and it was about time I beat him,” Suffolk’s Gilding told PDC.tv afterwards. “I didn’t get any nerves tonight – that comes with experience. You can’t practice for the big stage, you just have to go through it.”

Describing his breakthrough victory at the age of 52 as “unbelievable”, Gilding joked that the 300-mile car journey to Minehead from Suffolk should have scuppered his chances. “I’ll have to win another major now, although I haven’t decided which one yet,” he concluded.

Gilding reached Sunday’s final with an 11-6 victory over another outsider in Czech player Adam Gawlas, while Van Gerwen beat Belgium’s Dimitri Van den Bergh by the same score in the other semi-final. His triumph brought the curtain down on a week of surprises in what is often an open and unpredictable event.

The world champion, Michael Smith, exited in the last 32 along with Gerwyn Price, with Peter Wright losing to 56-year-old Richie Burnett in the last 16. Gilding saw off an experienced list of opponents in Darren Webster, Ricky Evans, Luke Woodhouse, Brendan Dolan and Martin Schindler on his way to the semi-finals.

Gilding will now rise to No 25 on the PDC’s order of merit after eclipsing his previous best at a TV event, when he reached the UK Open semi-finals in 2015. It marks a dramatic return to form after Gilding lost his PDC Tour card at the end of 2018, only regaining it for the 2021 season.

“I lost my Tour card because I was getting a bit lazy,” Gilding said after his win. “I started to take it more seriously in the last couple of years, and decided to give it a real good go.”