Phil Taylor wins darts title

checkout from Taylor in the second leg to lead by two sets to nil.
Taylor, 52, battled back to level, but fell behind again as the Dutchman surged 4-2 ahead at Alexandra Palace.

However, the Englishman won the next five sets as Van Gerwen’s form fell away, sealing victory with a double 16.

Taylor, unusually, had entered his 19th world championship final as the underdog after Van Gerwen’s scintillating recent form. “Mighty Mike” had beaten his opponent in their last two meetings and won his first PDC major , the World Grand Prix, in October.   In a whirlwind first set, Taylor started stronger, laying down an early marker with a 170 finish in only the second leg of the contest, but Van Gerwen snatched the set in a deciding fifth leg with a 140 checkout.

The Dutchman, showing none of the finishing frailty of earlier rounds, broke Taylor in 11 darts on the way to taking the second set 3-1.

At two legs all in the third, Taylor broke the Van Gerwen throw for the first time to claw back a set. The fourth set also went to two legs apiece with Taylor levelling up the match by hitting tops.

Van Gerwen, however, quickly re-established a two set cushion, winning the fifth set in a deciding leg and breaking Taylor early in the sixth.

But, in what was developing into a see-saw encounter of high scoring and clinical finishing, Taylor wiped out the deficit once again to restore parity at 4-4.

With the crowd turning in his favour, Taylor then reeled off three straight sets to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy and claim his 16th world title, 23 years after his first.

A 13-dart finish at the start of the ninth set was followed by two 11-dart finishes from Taylor as he moved ahead 5-4 to lead the match for the first time.

Van Gerwen, visibly rattled, began to miss doubles as Taylor notched yet another 11-darter to move within one set of the title at 6-4. He wrapped up the match 3-1 in the last set, taking out 91 with a double 16. An emotional Taylor said: “I’m probably the proudest man in the world. — BBC Sport.