For the third installment of
our look back at some of the
sport’s classic matches we
return to January 1992 as
Phil Taylor claimed his second
World Title. This match will
forever be remembered as
one of the greatest, but also
as one which was pivotal in
the decision by some of the
sports top players to form the
WDC (now the PDC).
Taylor, who had claimed his
first world title just two years
previous, entered the final in
spectacular form. In addition to
being ranked number one in the
world, the man who would later
go on to become the greatest man
in the sport’s history had played
some remarkable darts on route
to the final.
In all five matches, including the
final, Taylor recorded a three-dart
encounter with Dennis Priestley as
the reigning champ was dethroned
with a surprise second-round
defeat to Alan Warriner but the
Somerset born player still had to
show real determination in order
to book his meeting with Taylor.
His semi-final started terribly and
saw his opponent, Kevin Kenny,
establish a 3-0 lead. However,
Gregory incredibly won the next
5 sets to complete a remarkable
Embassy World Championship
Final 1992
Phil Taylor V Mike Gregory
11th January
Country Club.
1992.
Lakeside
The 1992 tournament was the
15th edition of the Embassy
World Championships at Lakeside
and it would turn out to be the
penultimate instalment of a
unified championship. It provided
a final that darts fans would talk
about for years to come.
For the first time since its inception
in 1978, the final match of the
championship included neither
John Lowe nor Eric Bristow but
instead featured the number 1
and 2 seeds in Taylor and Gregory.
average in excess of 90 and his
quarter-final score of 98.49 was
the highest match average of any
player in the tournament.
Likewise, Gregory was in great
form heading into the Saturday
showdown. He avoided a semi-final
turnaround to book his first (and
only) appearance on the grandest
stage of all.
As he did against Kenny, Gregory
started slow in the final allowing
Taylor to break the throw in the
very first leg before going on to
A Look Back At The Greatest Matches O