the last 16. He threw a nine-dart finish in the third UK Open Qualifier during a first round win over Josh Payne, but lost in the following round 5–6 to Michael van Gerwen. He qualified for the 2013 Premier League by virtue of being the 2011 champion. In the first eight matches he could only beat Phil Taylor and Simon Whitlock and went into the ninth week knowing he had to beat James Wade to have any chance of avoiding being one of the two relegated players from the 10-man league. Anderson lost 3–7 to Wade and stated afterwards that he has struggled with his game for the last year. At the UK Open he led Kevin Painter 7–3 in the fourth round, but then lost six consecutive legs to exit the tournament 7–9. Anderson showed his best darts in the first round of the World Grand Prix as he averaged 104.86 in the double start event during a two sets to nil 10-minute defeat of Jelle Klaasen. He then edged past Wes Newton 3–2 before meeting Phil Taylor in top form in the quarter-finals who beat Anderson 3–0. At the Grand Slam of Darts, Anderson produced two superb performances in the group stage as he averaged 107.14 and 111.80 in defeats of Wesley Harms and Peter Wright. He lost his other game to James Wade to finish second in the group and play Taylor in the last 16. Anderson again posted an impressive average of 106.13 (almost four points ahead of Taylor's), but from 4–4 was unable to capitalise on the chances his scoring set up and lost 10–5. Anderson's second major quarter-final of the year came at the Players Championship Finals where he lost 9–7 to Justin Pipe. 2014 Anderson comfortably beat Mark Dudbridge and Brendan Dolan in the 2014 World Championship to face Michael van Gerwen in the third round. He took advantage of a sluggish start from Van Gerwen to establish a 3–1 lead and also missed two darts to win the set he lost. However, Anderson's usual scoring power deserted him as he lost three sets in a row to exit the tournament. Anderson bemoaned the fact that he had been playing consistently well over the previous months but kept losing games he should win through silly mistakes. He then began the year by claiming his first ranking title in two and a half years