Phil Taylor easily saw off the challenge of James Wade to win his first major title in 12 months at the World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Taylor proves too strong for Wade in World Matchplay final
Phil Taylor easily saw off the challenge of James Wade to win his fourth successive World Matchplay title in Blackpool.
The victory was Taylor's 12th in total at the event and his first major title for some 12 months after what has been, by his high standards, a lean year.
'The Power' emerged an 18-8 victor over Wade with a seven-leg winning
stretch from the end of the first session ultimately proving too much for his opponent to recover from.
The first four legs went with throw, Taylor claiming the second with an eye-catching 135 check-out, but Wade then missed a dart at double-top in fifth which allowed his opponent to step in and claim the first break by hitting double-two.
A 12-darter moved Taylor two clear and, having taking the next two, he struck a real blow when he hit bull with his final dart to check out 86 for a third consecutive break which put him 7-2 ahead.
Commanding lead
Taylor then stretched his lead to 9-2 before Wade took the 12th leg with a 12-darter of his own, but it proved a rare moment of joy for the left-hander as Taylor reeled off four more in succession to cruise into a ten-leg lead at 13-3.
Wade finally found some rhythm to take three successive legs, but he then missed a dart to reduce the arrears to 13-7 before the fourth interval and Taylor needed no second invitation to take out double-five, celebrating his 14-6 advantage with a fist pump.
With the score at 15-7, Wade produced seven perfect darts in leg 23 before narrowly missing treble-19, but he got the job done in 12 darts to get back to 15-8.
But that would be as good as things got for the left-hander, Taylor winning the next three to close out victory in some style and securing the £100,000 first prize in the process.
Taylor told
Sky Sports afterwards: "It's the first trophy I've got all year. I'd like to dedicate this to Eric (Bristow) because he still believed in me. He put his belief behind me and put his money behind me and that's for him.
"I was so far ahead I relaxed and I thought there is no way you're coming back from this and then he started coming back and I lost a session 4-1. That's when I started to hit good shots and keep pushing on."
Wade added: "I wasn't good enough. In the latter part of the game I played well but the first half of the game it was diabolical and Phil showed why he's the best in the world."
