Phil Taylor set to retire in five years’ time
Phil Taylor has announced he will stop throwing darts and retire at the age of 55.
The Power has spoken about this before, and having recently turned 50, five more years will be enough for him.
He is one of the greatest players the game has seen, winning everything there is to win and has been at the top of his game for almost 20 years. When Taylor entered the 1990 world championship as a 125-1 outsider, no-one gave him a chance. He reached the final and beat his mentor Eric Bristow, the five-time world champion, to win his first world title.
Since then, Taylor has been crowned champion of the world 15 times and went on to overtake Bristow as the greatest darts player. Taylor very rarely loses a match, and when he heads into every tournament he is the overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy at the end.
As well as 15 world championships, Taylor has won 11 world matchplay titles, nine world grands prix, five premier leagues, four UK opens and many other titles. He searches for darting perfection, and this comes in the form of nine-dart finishes, of which he has 10 in total, including two in the final against James Wade en route to winning this year’s Premier League. It’s not a surprise that he is the first player, and the only player capable, to hit two in one game.
“I've set myself a target of hanging up my darts at 55 and I'm going to stick to it,” he said. “I'm no different to anyone else - my battery will not run forever.”
That may be true, but it shows few signs of running low just yet. His recent defeat to Adrian Lewis in the semi-final of the world grand prix in Dublin may have ruffled his feathers, but with the Grand Slam of Darts - which Taylor is the only winner of since its formation in 2007 - and the world championship fast approaching, he is hungry for more success.
“Now I’m going to go back home and spend a few days back on the practice board and come back hard at Wolverhampton [Grand Slam of Darts venue]. After that, I’ll do nothing before the world championship – that’s the big one,” he said.
Taylor says his priorities elsewhere have made him decide to retire when he does. “Darts isn’t number one in my life anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve decided I’m definitely going to retire when I get to 55. I want to spend the rest of my life with my family and settle down. I’ve missed seeing my children and my grandchildren grow up, and I need to slow down a bit.
“The last month has put it in perspective for me and made me realise that I need to take care of myself and look after my well-being. You need to be one hundred per cent prepared for every tournament and you can’t do that on three hours’ sleep.
“Don't get me wrong, I've had a fantastic run and I never thought it would be possible to enjoy such a good lifestyle, and meet so many famous people, just by playing darts. I haven't done bad for a lad from a council house in Stoke where the stairs were condemned.
“But I've made sacrifices as well - I must have stopped at every motorway service station a hundred times and kipped in a thousand hotels,” Taylor went on to say.
When the Power does call time on his playing career, darts will say goodbye to a true legend.
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