Phil Taylor continued his recent dominance with a thrilling 11-5 victory in the final of the PartyPoker.net European Championship.
World number one on top form in Frankfurt
Phil Taylor continued his recent dominance with a thrilling 11-5 victory in the final of the PartyPoker.net European Championship against Adrian Lewis.
The world number one, who had recorded earlier victories over Mark Walsh (9-5) and Robert Thornton (11-7), notched two of the top three highest ever televised averages at over 113 in reaching the final.
He then came from 2-0 down in the final, winning seven legs out of eight as he surged clear to collect the £50,000 title in Frankfurt.
"It's one of the hardest tournaments I've ever won and I'm very proud of it," said Taylor, who hit a record tournament average of 108.21. "I love the feeling of winning and the competition.
"We've both worked very hard to get to the final. Adrian did brilliantly to get to the final and he's in the Grand Slam of Darts now, and I'm proud of him.
"Towards the end both of us were tired but I had to try keep the pressure on Adrian and it told in the end."
Taylor upped his game to lead 7-3 and although Lewis pulled one back another three-leg burst from the Stoke legend virtually ended 'Jackpot's hopes of victory.
Lewis had produced arguably his finest ever display on the televised stage in averaging 108.62 to defeat world number two Raymond van Barneveld 9-2 in the quarter-finals, and followed up be seeing off Peter Manley 11-7 in the semis.
"Phil did a job on me and he fully deserved the win," said Lewis. "I missed some doubles and if I'd gone 3-0 up it might have been a different game.
"Reaching the final was a bit tiring but I really enjoyed the tournament and it's a great achievement when you look at all the players who were in the event."
Thornton continued his rapid ascent up the world rankings with a run to his first major semi-final since changing to the PDC circuit in May, overcoming Ronnie Baxter in the last eight and averaging 103 against Taylor in a game where he shared the lead at seven-all.
Lewis's semi-final against Peter Manley was a similarly tight affair until the former stormed ahead, winning the last four legs to move into his first televised final since 2006.
