There is just no stopping him at the moment!
Phil Taylor clinched another title, winning the Players Championship tournament in Wigan on Saturday.
And the Unicorn star again looked in brilliant touch…..again unbeatable! It is his fourth title of the Pro Tour this year.
There were certainly no thoughts of a weekend off after his brilliant win at the Grand Slam….for Taylor, he needs competitive darts action – all part of his preparation ahead of the World Championship next month.
He beat Ronnie Baxter convincingly in the final by 6 legs to 1 to pick up another £6,000.
In that final, Taylor banged in three 180s and finishes of 121, 77 and 99 and then two hits at D16 gave him the comprehensive victory.
To be honest, Taylor just got better and better as the day went on….after wins over Jimmy Mann (6-4), Mark Jones (6-1) and Alan Tabern (6-4), he really clicked through the gears….
He beat Denis Ovens 6-3 in the quarter-finals, Steve Beaton 6-0 in the semi’s before that 6-1 triumph over ‘The Rocket’ in the final at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.
Taylor apart though, it was a disappointing day for rest of Team Unicorn in Wigan.
Gary Anderson opted out of the weekend, choosing to recharge the batteries…..four Unicorn players reached the last 16 but that was as good as it got.
Wes Newton lost 6-3 to Beaton, Joe Cullen’s good run was ended 6-2 by Michael van Gerwen, Paul Nicholson missed chances and lost a last leg decider to Denis Ovens, while Colin Osborne was beaten 6-4 by Baxter.
In the last 32, Kevin Painter lost 6-1 against Beaton, and in round two, four more Unicorn players fell….in arguably THE shock of the day, World No.3 James Wade was beaten 6-3 by Prakash Jiwa, Jamie Caven went down 6-5 to Mark Frost, Arron Monk was whitewashed by Justin Pipe and it was another disappointing day for Andy Hamilton.
Remember the top 32 in the Players Championship Order of Merit qualify for those Players Championship Finals ‘live on ITV4 in a fortnight.
Well, ‘The Hammer’ went into this last qualifying double-header in 34th spot and he suffered defeat in a last leg decider against Louis Blundell in that 2nd Round….he now needs a big run – possibly to as semi-final – on Sunday to give himself a chance.
In the 1st Round, Terry Jenkins was a surprise 6-5 loser to Dave Smith and Unicorn’s South African star Devon Petersen lost 6-4 to Mark Lawrence.
By the way, World Champion Adrian Lewis is in danger of missing those Players Championship Finals. He was beaten 6-5 in the 2nd Round by Sweden’s Magnus Caris and now has to win Sunday’s tournament in Wigan, otherwise the World Champ will miss a TV ‘Major’!
Results – Q/Finals:
Steve Beaton 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Phil Taylor 6-3 Denis Ovens
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Peter Wright
Mark Webster 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Semi-Finals:
Phil Taylor 6-0 Steve Beaton
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Mark Webster
Final:
Phil Taylor 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC