Phil Taylor powers to UK Open title
Phil Taylor retained his Rileys Darts Zone UK Open title by beating Gary Anderson 11-5 last night in Bolton.
Taylor made it a fourth UK Open and has now won 67 major PDC television titles.
The Power took the opening leg with a superb 161 checkout and opened up a 5-1 lead without needing to play at his best.
Anderson - appearing in his first PDC major final - made the score 6-3 by winning two of the next three legs. However, Taylor was in total control, and took five of the next seven legs, taking out a 167 along the way. He sealed victory with a 121 finish on the bullseye.
Anderson only had a 28 per cent checkout success rate and missed crucial doubles, which wasn’t good enough to topple Taylor’s 52 per cent. After making darts history by throwing two nine-darters a few weeks ago in his Premier League triumph over James Wade, Taylor backed up that form by brushing aside the Flying Scotsman.
“I'm absolutely delighted. It's a real challenge to win this event and I was up against a brilliant player in the final against Gary. I really enjoyed all the games and in the final he did well. You could tell he was a bit tired and I hit him then, but he kept coming back at me. To follow up winning the Premier League trophy back with this is special for me and it's an event I love,” said Taylor.
Anderson - who made the switch from the rival darts body the BDO in 2009 - was delighted with his form. “It's obviously disappointing to lose the final but I have to pay tribute to Phil because he was superb. He has set the standard for everyone to follow and I know what I have to do to win major titles against him.
"His finishing was great and even though we were both tired he managed to find the energy he needed to win. I'm pleased to get to the final, though, because I had some really hard games along the way. It's my first big final with the PDC and hopefully the first of many,” said Anderson.
He may just be hoping not to be meeting Taylor too often.
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