He’s done it again!
Phil Taylor completed a hat-trick of European titles with a comprehensive victory over Wayne Jones in the final.
The Unicorn ace ‘powered’ to the win in Germany – thrashing Jones 11-1, in what turned out to be a one-sided end to a dramatic day in Dinslaken!
In a thrilling all Unicorn semi-final, Taylor edged out Terry Jenkins 11-10. ‘The Bull’ had earlier seen off Jamie Caven 10-6 in an all Unicorn quarter-final!
And he came mighty close to switching off ‘The Power’ – coming from 8-5 and 9-6 down to force a decider.
But in that final leg, Taylor hit the pedal, kicking off with a 177, while Jenkins first visit was only 21 and Taylor won it with a 12 darter. He averaged 105.37, with Jenkins averaging 100 and he also hit five 180s.
But Jenkins can’t be too disappointed, as it heralded a return to form after what has been a wretched 2010.
Raymond van Barneveld’s tournament ended in the quarter-finals, where an average of over 100 wasn’t quite enough to beat Jones…..the Dutchman had his chances and was hugely disappointed not to set up another showdown with Taylor.
The final was heading for what would have been an embarrassing whitewash, as Taylor was at his ruthless best.
He raced into a 5-0 advantage and that, as they say, was that!
Taylor extended the lead to 7-0 and it took a 116 finish from Jones to finally get a leg on the board. He was clearly hit by nerves, playing in his first PDC ‘Major’ Final.
His consolation is a cheque for £20,000 and a guaranteed place at the Grand Slam of Darts in his home town of Wolverhampton in November.
‘The Power’ won it in less than an hour…..he was just too good.
And his bank manager will be smiling once again….another £50,000 in prize money for the World No.1
It completes a hat-trick of ‘Major’ titles in the summer of 2010, following on from the UK Open and World Matchplay and he will now take a month off and enjoy a holiday!
“I am thrilled,” he said. “It is a hard tournament to win, playing three tough games in one day. But I felt physically and mentally strong and relished it to be honest.”
He added: “Terry played really well in the semi-finals but once I had managed to get over that hurdle, I knew I was in very good shape for the final.”
Can anyone stop the great man in the rest of the year?
The next big one is the World Grand Prix in Dublin in October……I suspect Taylor is counting the days!
Results:
Quarter-Finals:
Wayne Jones 10-8 Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor 10-4 Mark Walsh
Colin Lloyd 10-7 Ronnie Baxter
Terry Jenkins 10-6 Jamie Caven
Semi-Finals:
Wayne Jones 11-10 Colin Lloyd
Phil Taylor 11-10 Terry Jenkins
Finals:
Phil Taylor 11-1 Wayne Jones
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC