Phil Taylor is aiming for his 12th world championship crown

Both players struggled to hit top form in a match littered with errors but Taylor, the 11-time world champion, was able to carve out a 6-2 win.

The tone of the match was set early on when Anderson missed seven attempts to win the opening set.

"I won ugly. Bob played well but could not finish," said Taylor.

"I'm shattered. When I kept missing my doubles my energy started going, I've never tried so hard.

"The row with Kevin Painter on Saturday did not help and I did not sleep well last night. It hurt my feelings."

Row overshadows Taylor win

Earlier Dudbridge booked his place in the final after claiming an impressive 6-4 victory over Wayne Mardle.

The 31-year-old led 4-1 and 5-3 but Mardle threatened to launch another fine comeback by pulling the scores back to 4-3 and 5-4.

But Dudbridge held on and claimed victory with the help of 13 maximums and a checkout of 80.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to be in the final," he said.

"I feel for Wayne because most of the crowd were behind him and they weren't making it easy for him.

"They were willing him on and he wanted to do it for them but that's the way it goes.

"It was a difficult match and even though Wayne wasn't on his game he played a magnificent couple of sets to pull back."