Perth Darts Masters: Phil Taylor beats Michael van Gerwen in thrilling final
Last Updated: 24/08/14 7:51pm
Phil Taylor claimed victory in the inaugural TABtouch Perth Darts Masters with a superb 11-9 win over Michael van Gerwen in a thrilling final on Sunday.
The Power denied van Gerwen a third successive World Series of Darts triumph with a brilliant display in Australia as he mounted his second comeback of the evening, having earlier beaten Dave Chisnal 10-4 in the semi-final after trailing 3-0.
In the final, four 14-dart finishes helped the Dutch thrower into an early 4-2 lead, before Taylor posted an 11-dart finish to break back in leg seven.
Van Gerwen, though, capitalised on a miss from his opponent to win the eighth before taking out double ten for a 6-3 lead.
Taylor hit back to level with a run of three successive legs, taking out 64, 121 and double 16 for a 13-darter as he squared the game at six-all.
The pair traded the next two before van Gerwen took out 155 to lead 8-7, but Taylor's response was clinical as he hit double 16 in the next two legs - producing the crucial break of throw to move 9-8 up - and then he finished 125 on tops to lead 10-8.
Van Gerwen battled back, hitting double ten to pull it back to 10-9 and notching a 177 in the next as he attempted to send the game into a sudden-death deciding leg, but he was unable to take out 90 as Taylor returned to hit tops for the title.
Great final
Taylor said: "I'm over the moon to win this title. I thought it was a great final, we put each other under pressure and the momentum was swinging both ways.
"Dave Chisnall did a job on me in (last week’s) Singapore (Darts Masters), but I was delighted with my performance against him today. It was like deja vu for me when I went 3-0 down and I was letting him dominate me, but I got the job done well.
"The 125 was a big finish at the right time and that was a big shot. Michael's a great player but you've got to dig in against him, and I did that."
Earlier, van Gerwen had progressed to the final with a 10-6 win over James Wade in another high-quality semi-final.
The Dutch thrower, who also lost to Taylor in last month's World Matchplay final in the UK, said: “It's disappointing for me because I felt I had chances to win this game, but fair play to Phil because he hit some big finishes at the right times.
"I was really determined to win this title but I'll practice harder now for the next event in Sydney next week."
