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Phil Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is about the darts player; for others, see Phil Taylor (disambiguation).
| Phil Taylor | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Personal information | ||
| Full name | Philip Douglas Taylor[1] | |
| Nickname | The Power | |
| Date of birth | August 13, 1960 (age 46) | |
| Place of birth | Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent,  |
|
| Home town | Stoke-on-Trent, |
|
| Darts information | ||
| Playing darts since | 1988 | |
| Darts | 25 gr. Unicorn Phil Taylor | |
| Organisation | ||
| BDO | 1988 to 1993 | |
| PDC | founder member (1992/93) | |
| Current World Ranking | 1 | |
| BDO Grand Slam Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Winner 1990, 1992 | |
| World Masters | Winner 1990 | |
| World Darts Trophy | Winner 2006 | |
| Int. Darts League | QF 2006 | |
| PDC Televised Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Winner 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 | |
| World Matchplay | Winner 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 | |
| World Grand Prix | Winner 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 | |
| UK Open | Winner 2003, 2005 | |
| Desert Classic | Winner 2002, 2004, 2005 | |
| Premier League | Winner 2005, 2006 | |
| Other Tournament Wins | ||
| Tournament | Years | |
| News of the World Greene King Masters |
1996 1994 |
|
| Other Achievements | ||
| 1999 - Wins "Match of the Century" v BDO World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld 2002 Achieves his first televised nine dart finish at World Matchplay |
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Infobox last updated on: February 17, 2007. |
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Philip Douglas Taylor (born August 13, 1960) is a multi world champion darts player. His nickname is The Power.
Contents |
Born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent to Douglas and Elizabeth Taylor, he left school at the age of 16 and quickly entered work at JF Sale and Co. in Burslem. Between jobs there were moments of unemployment, but Phil indulged in his favourite hobby - darts. It was his playing in the pubs of Stoke-on-Trent that brought him to the attention of Eric Bristow, one of the most popular and well known figures in the game in the 1980s. Bristow decided to sponsor Phil to the tune of £10,000 on the condition that it had to be repaid. With this money Phil could practice and enter low-level tournaments. His rise to the top from this moment was nothing short of meteoric.
In 1988, Phil won the first of his many titles,[3] claiming the Burslem Open, Derbyshire Open, Lincolnshire Open and Canadian Open. But at the beginning of the 1990 World Championship, he was still relatively unknown which was reflected by his odds of 125-1. Ironically, he went on to face and beat his mentor Bristow in the final 6-1. Throughout the year he won the Finnish Open, Danish Open, North American Open, British Pentathlon, the Europe Cup Singles and Pairs (with Bob Anderson) and the World Masters which helped him become world number 1.
The 1992 World Final is still considered by Phil as the favourite match of his illustrious career [8] - a classic encounter against Mike Gregory which went right down a tie-break leg in the final set of the match.
Although titles came along in relentless fashion, darts coverage on television was dwindling and Taylor was one of the players who decided to halt the decline and break away from the British Darts Organisation in 1992 and joined the WDC, now the PDC -. At its formation, the PDC consisted of the majority of the world's top 16 ranked players and also every previous World Champion who was still active in the game.
As darts enjoyed a resurgence Taylor's career went from strength to strength and he has now clocked up 11 PDC World Championships to bring his haul to 13 world titles. This included the 2001 trouncing of John Part when he averaged 107 with each visit to the board and 72.5% checkout rate---one of the best performances ever seen.
Taylor has faced the incumbent BDO World Champion in challenge matches on two occasions. In 1999, he beat Raymond van Barneveld by 21 legs to 10 in a one-hour challenge dubbed "The Match of the Century" at the Wembley Conference Centre. In 2004, he beat Andy Fordham having led 5-2 (sets) when the match was abandoned due to Fordham complaining of feeling unwell.
Taylor's overall list of titles is unprecedented. As well as 13 World Championships, he has won eight World Matchplays, seven World Grand Prix, three Las Vegas Desert Classics, two UK Opens, two Premier Leagues (remaining unbeaten in 28 matches) and one World Series Of Darts title. He has even won a BDO title in 2006, the World Darts Trophy, when the Dutch organisers invited PDC players for the first time.
Taylor has often talked in interviews and his autobiography about his quests to achieve the perfect leg of darts - a 9 dart finish.
He finally achieved the feat on television for the first time in 2002, at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, Lancashire, during his quarter final match against Chris Mason in the Stan James World Matchplay Championship. He hit 7 consecutive treble 20s, followed by treble 19 and double 12.
In 2004, he repeated the feat in Bolton again live on television during a match in the UK Open Championship, making him the only player in the game's history ever to have achieved the feat more than once on television.
On 12 June 2005 he achieved the feat for a third time on television, during a semi final clash in the 2005 UK Open Championship. He hit seven treble twenties followed by treble 19 and double 12. He went on to win the competition beating Mark Walsh in the final.
- Video of Phil Taylor's 9 dart finish v Chris Mason - World Matchplay 2002
- Video of Phil Taylor's 9 dart finish v Roland Scholten - UK Open 2005
Before the formation of the PDC, Taylor suffered two defeats at the BDO World Championship, a 1991 quarter final to Dennis Priestley and a 1993 second round match to Kevin Spiolek. These losses are not often recalled because it wasn't until the PDC was formed and his tremendous run of success that subsequent defeats and setbacks have become more notable.
He has lost only three matches at the PDC World Championships since its inception in 1994, and has reached the final in each of its 14 years to-date. His 1994 defeat to Dennis Priestley, the 2003 defeat to John Part, and his 2007 final loss to Raymond van Barneveld prove that he is human and that there are always threats to his dominance. The ever modest Phil is always the first to admit this and to point to the fine quality of players at each tournament.
His 7-6 defeat to van Barneveld at the 2007 World Championship Final came after losing a sudden death tiebreak. Taylor had led 3-0, but a remarkable comeback by Barneveld saw the match taken to 6 sets each, and 5 legs each in the final set. After the tournament, Taylor believed that he lacked the stamina necessary for him to have won and began a new health and fitness regime.
The World Grand Prix is possibly the tournament that Phil has suffered the most surprising defeats of his career. The unusual format of the tournament is that players must start a leg on a double and play shorter first round matches (best of 3 sets). Taylor has twice suffered first round defeats in this event. In 2001, he lost 2-1 to qualifier Kevin Painter and in 2004 by 2-0 to Andy Callaby. On the other seven occasions that he has progressed through the first round, Taylor has won the tournament.
Surprisingly he lost four matches in televised tournaments during the first half of 2006. This is unique for Taylor's record, who had not lost two major events in a row in 13 years. He lost to Jelle Klaasen and Simon Whitlock in the International Darts League tournament in Holland and twice in a row to Raymond van Barneveld in the UK Open and the Las Vegas Desert Classic.
He returned to form by claiming the World Matchplay title for the eighth time in July, the World Darts Trophy for the first time in September and went on to defeat Barneveld on his way to his seventh World Grand Prix title in October.
The only other high-profile finals that Taylor has lost came against Rod Harrington in the 1991 Winmau World Masters, Dennis Priestley in the 1993 UK Matchplay and against Bob Anderson in the 1993 Samson Darts Classic.[4]
The split in darts possibly cost darts of the rivalries that existed between Bristow, Lowe, Wilson and others during the eighties. The greatest rivalry was possibly between the two organisations instead of between players. But Taylor has had at least two great rivals during his career. First of all Dennis Priestley, who beat Taylor in the first ever PDC final would go on to contest a total of five World Finals with the Power. Overall though Taylor came out on top in this rivalry winning the other four world titles and several other major clashes during the subsequent years. Priestley's 1994 World Title victory over Taylor was his last head-to-head win on television.
Taylor's current great rival is Raymond van Barneveld. Whilst Taylor was clocking up World titles in the PDC, van Barneveld was amassing four in the BDO. Darts was denied a great rivalry as the two players were unable to compete against each other regularly due to the split in the game. That was until Barneveld's switch to the PDC in 2006. Already they have produced several great battles as they traded victories during 2006. Van Barneveld has been on top in 2007 so far winning the World title in January and beating Taylor at the Masters of Darts in the Netherlands in February, though Taylor won the Feburary 2007 Premier League match between the two 8-6 at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, despite trailing 5-1 at the break.
Taylor has adopted a stricter fitness regime and changed his darts in an effort to regain the upper hand in the rivalry, a regime that is being followed by the regional news program Midlands Today. The two remain great friends, frequently embracing following the conclusion of matches.
Phil is a family man and has four children - Lisa, Chris, Kelly and Natalie - to wife Yvonne. His popularity among darts fans has led to increasing business opportunities - such as writing his autobiography (with Sky TV darts commentator Sid Waddell), and appearances on TV such as "The Frank Skinner Show" where he dressed up in drag and sung alongside former Hear'Say singer Myleene Klass, and "Heads Up with Richard Herring" where he discussed his love of poker. Taylor also appeared on BBC's spelling competition, Hard Spell and has participated in televised celebrity poker.
In 2004, he recorded a song with Sharon Kelly, "Better Than the Best," which was written in his honour and featured a "rap" by Taylor. However, the song was never officially released. He also appeared in British Whale's video for "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" in 2005, which featured a mock darts game against Justin Hawkins of The Darkness.
The one blemish on Taylor's career is an incident after a 1999 exhibition match in Scotland. Two young women, aged 23 and 25, accompanied Taylor back to his motorhome after the competition and later accused him of sexual assault. Taylor denied the charges but he was found guilty of a minor offence and fined £2000. As a result, his MBE was withdrawn.[5]
On December 28th 2006 Phil Taylor faced Chris Mason again in the 2007 World Championships. Prior to this, Mason had an interview with a British Newspaper regarding the match later in the day, saying that Phil Taylor was big-headed about his achievements. Phil Taylor defeated Mason but the match was overshadowed by comments made by Mason to Taylor following the match which were unheard on TV. Phil Taylor then confirmed in a post match interview that Mason had been disrespectful again, causing Taylor to storm off. Mason apologised to Taylor a week later.[6][7]
Taylor was one of ten nominees for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 2006, the award went to Zara Phillips. On January 9, 2007 he won the PDC Player of the Year award at the inaugural PDC Awards Dinner held at the Dorchester Hotel in London's Park Lane.
In 2005 he opened a shop selling sports trophies and memorabilia in Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent.[citation needed]
On March 26, 2007, he and 4 of his fellow darts mates appeared as the "Power Posse" on the BBC game show Eggheads. In the head-to-head rounds, Phil challenged CJ De Mooi, on the subject of "Arts & Books", but in the best-of-3 questions, Phil got his first 2 questions wrong, whereas CJ got both his right, so the 3rd question for both players wasn't needed. The "Power Posse" eventually lost the match and the chance to win £26,000.
He is also a huge fan of the football club Port Vale.
- BDO World Championship
- 1990: Phil Taylor beat Eric Bristow 6-1
- 1992: Phil Taylor beat Mike Gregory 6-5
- PDC World Championship
- 1994: Dennis Priestley beat Phil Taylor 6-1
- 1995: Phil Taylor beat Rod Harrington 6-2
- 1996: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 6-4
- 1997: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 6-3
- 1998: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 6-0
- 1999: Phil Taylor beat Peter Manley 6-2
- 2000: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 7-3
- 2001: Phil Taylor beat John Part 7-0
- 2002: Phil Taylor beat Peter Manley 7-0
- 2003: John Part beat Phil Taylor 7-6
- 2004: Phil Taylor beat Kevin Painter 7-6
- 2005: Phil Taylor beat Mark Dudbridge 7-4
- 2006: Phil Taylor beat Peter Manley 7-0
- 2007: Raymond van Barneveld beat Phil Taylor 7-6
- PhilThePower.com Official Web Site
- Professional Darts Corporation PDC Web Site with current news of Taylor and other professional players.