THE OLD DOG for the hard road.
Phil Taylor may be on the oche for quite some time now but he produced some of the best darts of his long and successful career tonight.
The Power clinched his 16th world title with victory over Michael van Gerwen in a high-quality Ladbrokes World Darts Championship final at Alexandra Palace.
Taylor fought back from 2-0 and 4-2 down to ultimately prevail 7-4 against the 23-year-old.
“I’m probably the proudest man in the world,” Taylor told Sky Sports 1 afterwards. “I’ve got to give Michael everything. He’s phenomenal that kid and I honestly didn’t think I was going to win. I was two-nothing down, then 2-2, then 4-2, then 4-4. I just couldn’t seem to crack him and I’m thinking it’s his first time, maybe he’ll miss a couple of doubles.
“All of a sudden my darts that were going on the wire were going in and the crowd got behind me and lifted me – they won it for me tonight.”
Taylor becomes the first recipient of the Sid Waddell trophy, named after of the darts commentator who died in recent months.
“Sid was like a father figure to me — he was my biggest fan, Sid was and I loved him to bits. I am absolutely over the moon. I can’t explain how I feel. It’s the biggest night of my life,” he added.
Taylor also indicated he’d be back at the Ally Pally to defend his title next year.
