Gary Anderson quits midway through match and walks off leaving opponent stunned

Martin Schindler was understandably taken by surprise when Gary Anderson walked out midway through their Players Championship Six match.

A day earlier, world number 23 Anderson suffered defeat in the Player Championship Five final against Raymond van Barneveld, who ended his three-year wait for a PDC title.

The Scot returned the following afternoon with wins over Haupai Puha, Brett Claydon and Robbie Knops to reach the fourth round, where he would come up against Schindler.

But the match was abandoned at 3-3, when former world champion Anderson decided to concede the match after suffering what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

As you can see from the footage below, he hit three single 20s at the start of the seventh leg and appeared to be in some discomfort before speaking to the referee.

After suggesting he could no longer continue, Anderson would shake hands with Schindler, who looked slightly bemused by the situation.

Here's how social media reacted to the scenes.

One said: "Not something you want to see. Gary Anderson forced to withdraw from his game with Martin Schindler due to a shoulder injury Hopefully it’s not too serious."

A second wrote: "The scorer made that such a hard watch he didn't know what to do," while a third commented: "Understandable he dropped out. Hope Gary's back well on the tour coming events."

A fourth added: "Just as he was looking like prime Gary again."

The German world number 24 advanced to the quarter-final of the Players Championship Six tournament but would fall to a 6-2 defeat against Dave Chisnall.

Chisnall went on to secure his first ProTour title of 2024 by beating Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-6.

“We both struggled there. I was playing alright until I went 5-3 up, and he kept coming back,” said the St Helens-born thrower.

“It’s one of those finals where you have just got to get over the line and that is what I did - but it was probably the worst average I have had all day.

“The 135 [checkout] there probably won me that game, but I think I got a bit over-excited as I played rubbish after that!"