14th World Matchplay Title

Phil Taylor has continued his 100% record in World Matchplay finals to lift the trophy for an unbelievable 14th time, also extending his unbeaten run in Blackpool to six years. It was a fantastic final between himself and European Champion, Adrian Lewis. Taylor managed to maintain an average of around 111 throughout the match with Lewis, aided by countless 180s, averaging around 106.

The first four legs of the final would go with throw, including Taylor hitting an 88-checkout on the bull in leg three, before Lewis broke in the fifth leg to go 3-2 in front. All five legs of the second session would go with throw, meaning that Lewis now had a 6-4 lead. The third session was definitely the turning point when Taylor won all five legs, with checkouts of 130 and 123 in legs 12 and 13, to move 9-6 in front.

It didn't completely ruin Lewis at this point though and he did manage to find a break that allowed him to make it 10-8 before 11-9 at the end of the fourth session. That became 11-10 before Lewis made a crucial mistake. After hitting single-20 with his first dart he decided to go for single eight to leave double top instead of single-16 for the double of the same bed. But because the first dart had lay in such a way, Lewis had no chance of finding double top and ended up hitting the first dart before hitting the floor. This allowed Taylor to move 12-10 in front and added another nail in the Lewis coffin.

The mistake hurt Lewis and Taylor smelt blood, he managed to win the following three legs of the fifth session to make it 15-10. Lewis began to fight back once again in the sixth session. After both players missed two darts to win the 16th leg, Lewis managed to finish off ten before finding a terrific 127-checkout to reduce the deficit to 15-13. Lewis would then miss two darts to move within one of victory and Taylor all but sealed the match with a terrific 136-checkout to make it 17-13. It was a rather more common tops finish for Taylor to win the match and claim his colossal 14th victory.

It was also a poignant final as commentator John Gwynne was hanging up his microphone for good. The sporting world wishes Gwynney a fantastic retirement and thanks him for his incredible time as a voice of sports.