Darts: Taylor edges thriller to survive 'vulture' attack
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Phil Taylor completed a hat-trick of World Matchplay titles, but was pushed all the way in Saturday's final by John Part, eventually winning 18-16 at the Winter Gardens here.
Taylor, who completed a nine-dart finish for £100,000 on Thursday, won the darts for the start of the match and handed them to Canadian Part. As is his usual way the 10-times world champion stole the advantage back to win the first leg.
Despite that setback, Part, who suffered a humiliating 7-0 whitewash at the hands of Taylor during the 2001 World Championship, seemed to grow in confidence once he realised that a similar battering was not forthcoming.
By the 25th leg the pressure and frustration for Taylor began to show as he missed six chances to break Part's darts and the underdog gratefully took the opportunity.
Taylor recovered superbly in the next leg with a 161 checkout, but Part responded with a 160 finish to go 16-15 ahead.
"He really pushed me," said an exhausted Taylor. "Every time I missed he would finish his shots. At 16-all I thought this is a best-of-three now, and I need to do the business.
"It's been one of the hardest tournaments I've ever played in. The others sensed I was below par and they are like vultures. They are getting fed up with losing, you can tell by the way they play against me."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments