Phil Taylor Powers back to his best aged 56 – because he still hates losing and loves being the best
Barry Hearn hails the oldest legend still playing at the elite level after he leads England to World Cup victory over Holland
THE grandad of darts has proved yet again that age is no barrier when it comes to winning on the oche.
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor has been written off so many times you’d have thought he was ready to ditch his darts and drift off into the sunset.
Instead Taylor has demonstrated yet again his burning ambition to remain among the world’s elite.
Taylor is 56, the oldest player on the big money circuit by a long stretch but if anybody believes he is just picking up a few quid before picking up his bus pass, they’d better take another look.
The Old Man was in imperious form in the World Cup of Darts representing England along with Adrian Lewis against the might of Holland in the shape of ‘Two Vans’ - Michael Van Gerwen and Raymond Van Barneveld.
It was not so much a van crash for the Dutch but Taylor showed who was in the driving seat when he eased to victory over Van Gerwen to pull the final level at 2-2.
Had Taylor cracked under the pressure, I’m sure more people would have come out of the woodwork and advised him to call it a day.
The thing about Taylor, and it plays a large part in his make up, is that he absolutely hates to lose and that is what drives him on.
I would not be surprised one bit if Taylor is still lining up on the oche by the time he hits the age of treble 20.
In what seemed like a couple of hours after helping England to their 3-2 World Cup victory over the Dutch, Taylor was on a flight to Vienna where he hammered home his return to top form.
He beat Michael Smith 6-4 last week in the final of the Austria Open - his first major tournament win for more than two years.
The following day, Taylor was catching a flight to Auckland New Zealand and you can judge for yourself what kind of form he is in by turning on to ITV4 for tournament coverage.
Then it’s on to Shanghai followed by Tokyo before returning to England in time to prepare for the World Matchplay which takes place in Blackpool.
It’s the kind of schedule that would wear anyone down and age is a factor in how you cope with so much travelling in a short space of time.
Of course, Taylor’s schedule also underlines just how much darts has gone global with a growing number of broadcasters making it their number two sport behind football.
Like Taylor, darts shows little sign of slowing down and already the calendar is already being shaped for next year.
One of the 2017 venues will be Las Vegas in July, pretty hot at that time of year I can tell you but if Taylor carries on like he has been, then he will be hotter.
Out there with Taylor will be his World Cup of Darts partner Adrian Lewis who is nicknamed Jackpot by his pals.
And let me remind you how he got his moniker.
Lewis won around £60,000 in Las Vegas on one trip but he was under the legal gambling age of 21, I am told and the casino refused to pay out.
I don’t think Taylor will be mistaken for an under 21!
