Phil Taylor has announced the World Senior Darts Tour in 2024 will be his final year on the circuit.
The 16-time world champion initially walked away from the sport in 2018 after making the final of the PDC World Championship, but returned to competitive darts last year.
Taylor, known as ‘The Power’, has now confirmed his glittering trophy-laden career on the oche is about to enter its final 12 months, but he will continue to be a World Senior Darts Tour global ambassador after his retirement.
Before he puts down his darts for good, we take a trip down memory lane and look back at five of Phil Taylor’s greatest wins in World Championship finals.
1992 – Beat Mike Gregory 6-5
Taylor’s coolness under pressure has been a hallmark of his career and that characteristic was evident during the 1992 BDO final against Gregory. ‘The Power’ fought back from 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 behind in sets to take the match into a decider, which Gregory led 2-0 in legs. But Taylor hung in there to level and, after Gregory missed six darts to win the title, Taylor won 6-5 in sudden death.
1996 – Beat Dennis Priestley 6-4
The second of Taylor’s eight consecutive world titles came against his old foe Priestley, who beat him in the 1994 showpiece. Taylor had dropped only one set in the whole tournament but Priestley showed his class to give ‘The Power’ a fright. ‘The Menace’, at 5-3 down, missed treble 18 with his eighth dart to end his hopes of a nine-darter and then wasted two chances at taking out tops in the same leg, leaving Taylor to finish the game by hitting double 15.
2004 – Beat Kevin Painter 7-6
Arguably the best final of all time and undoubtedly one of Phil Taylor’s greatest wins after he produced a remarkable comeback to deny ‘The Artist’ a first world title at Circus Tavern. Painter failed to make his 4-1 advantage count as Taylor fought back to lead 6-5. He did, however, show composure to send the match into a decider which Taylor won in sudden death by hitting double five.
2009 – Beat Raymond van Barneveld 7-1
Taylor won his first title in three years with a sensational display of darts against Van Barneveld, who beat ‘The Power’ in an thrilling 2007 final. Taylor set a world record average for a tournament final of 110.94 in brushing aside the Dutchman at Alexandra Palace.
2013 – Beat Michael van Gerwen 7-4
Taylor held off a strong challenge from Van Barneveld in the semis, when the match was overshadowed by a memorable oche spat, to set up a heavyweight showdown with Van Gerwen. Taylor looked dead and buried at 4-2 down but produced a brilliant comeback, despite suffering from a cold, to win his last world title.
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