Phil Taylor:
The Power &
Mike Glover
The name Phil Taylor has become synonymous with the sport of darts over the last few decades as ‘The Power’ has dominated the sport. Taylor has a growing list of tournament victories, having won over 70 major trophies, most recently the 20th World Matchplay in Blackpool last month.
Of course other players have risen to challenge Taylor, with Priestley, Lloyd, Part, van Barneveld, Wade, Lewis and now van Gerwen all securing multiple major victories of their own, but Taylor has found a way to keep winning despite an ever improving standard of opposition. When you sit down and think about it there are a number of reasons why this has proven to be the case, and it certainly goes well beyond the fact that Taylor is a once in a generation darting talent. Where Taylor is perhaps lacking ever so slightly in terms of a natural rhythm and ability to hit treble 20s he more than makes up for with his uncanny ability to land the crucial doubles, the nineteens and the big checkouts at the right time. He may not land 180 after 180 but when he does go big he makes sure that it hurts his opponent and he will invariably trample all over them while they are down. Of course Taylor possesses a talent that most dart players can only dream of, but has he really been the standout player of the last 25 years? Perhaps his early World Championship victories over the likes of Eric Bristow, Dennis Priestley and Mike Gregory were down to nothing more than pure talent, but the likes of Adrian Lewis and Michael van Gerwen have a natural ability at the sport that even Taylor would struggle to match. What has given Taylor the edge over this new generation of players is a dedication to the sport and to his career. While all modern dart players practice long and hard, Taylor practices longer and harder. He might not be the most natural thrower out there, and he may not have