Taylor Lost The Plot!

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Phil The Power’ Taylor suffered a short-circuit at Wembley last night and admitted: “I lost the plot.”

As Scotland’s Gary Anderson captured Taylor’s 888.com Premier League crown and a £125,000 cheque, with a 10-4 demolition of Adrian Lewis in the final, the 15-times world champion was left seething at his limp semi-final exit.

Walloped 8-3 by Lewis, his former apprentice, Taylor never recovered after winning the single-dart shot at the bullseye backstage for the right to ‘serve’ first – and inexplicably conceding the throw.

Before he knew it, Taylor was 3-0 down – and the misadventure will haunt him all the way home to the Potteries.

A year ago the play-offs were postponed for 24 hours by a blackout at Wembley – but anything the National Grid can do, Taylor can top it.

Lewis, who opened the competition with an 8-2 demolition of his old mentor across the capital at the O2 in February, said: “Phil was probably a bit silly to give me the darts and he must be regretting it now.”

Taylor chose the wrong opponent and the wrong stage to take liberties and he growled: “Adrian didn’t beat me, I beat myself and I’ve got nobody else to blame for that but myself.

“Giving him the dart wasn’t the real problem – I know where I went wrong and I’m going to put it right. I’ve got to stop toying with my career. Either I do it properly or I might as well retire.”

For the first time since the Premier League was conceived in 2005, Taylor holds neither the world title nor the £125,000 crown he had worn five times in the previous six years.

He said: “I never got going. It was so frustrating because my first dart kept landing on top of the wire and it simply didn’t click for me. But no arguments, I played s***.” Taylor had been so upbeat about his chances of another Premier League triumph that he fancied a repeat of last year’s twin nine-dart finishes in the final against James Wade – or even going one better.

But fans who arrived at Wembley after 7.45pm, expecting to see the Power illuminate one of his happiest hunting grounds, were shocked to discover the top of the bill was already out.

Instead, his crown went to Anderson, who gained lucrative revenge for his defeat by Lewis in the world championship final across north London at Ally Pally four months ago.

Anderson, 40, is a worthy champion. Over the 15 weeks, he unleashed 79 maximum 180s, but he was too exhausted to celebrate with anything stronger than coffee.

He said: “I’m shattered. For the next week I’m not going anywhere near a dartboard. I will do nothing but sit on my backside except go out to buy a new settee – a comfy one.”

Meanwhile, Lewis said: “It was like watching Stoke in the FA Cup – I played great in the semis but I was c*** in the final.”

Taylor’s only crumb of comfort was his 8-6 win in the third-place play-off against Raymond van Barneveld, who maintained his 100 per cent record in play-off semi-finals – played five, lost five.


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Taylor in 'I played shit' shocker.

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And Taylor talks to Sky!

Defending Sky Bet Mobile World Matchplay champion Phil Taylor says he is determined to retain his title at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

The 11-time winner will go into the event, which starts on Saturday, looking to extend a 15-match unbeaten run at the venue.

Taylor begins his campaign against qualifier Mark Hylton on Monday and will be looking to get back on track after a relatively barren spell over the last year.

"The World Matchplay's a tournament I love and coming back to Blackpool is always really exciting for me," the 15-time world champion said.

"I've got lots of fantastic memories in this event and I'm determined to create some new memories too next week.

"I've been practising hard since the UK Open last month and I'm determined to retain my title."
Champion

Current world champion Adrian Lewis will be in action on the opening night as he takes on Kevin Painter, who reached the quarter-finals last year.

Live on Sky Sports

* 2011 World Matchplay: Day One
* July 16, 2011 7:00pm
* Sky Sports HD 2

Lewis said: "It would be fantastic to win in Blackpool next week. For me it's the second biggest tournament there is, behind the World Championship.

"It's my favourite event to play in, I think the crowd's fantastic and it's like a party atmosphere. It will be great."

Two former world champions will also meet on the opening night, as Welshman Mark Webster faces Canada's John Part, who is also a two-time World Matchplay runner-up.

Another two-time finalist, Terry Jenkins, will open the tournament against Steve Beaton, while Vincent van der Voort faces Alan Tabern in Saturday's other match.

Former champion James Wade and Dutch star Raymond van Barneveld will be in first-round action on Sunday before Taylor takes the stage on Monday.

Gary Anderson, Colin Lloyd and Simon Whitlock will be the last of the big names to open their accounts on Tuesday evening.