Misplaced Pages

#669330

75-433: While active, Phil Taylor dominated the event, winning six of the thirteen tournaments he appeared in. He went unbeaten throughout the first three seasons before James Wade ended his 44 match run in the first match of the 2008 season. A new champion was to be crowned after Mervyn King defeated him in the 2009 semi-finals , where Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. Taylor defeated Wade

150-401: A 105.93 average against Whitlock). However, England lost the doubles meaning that the tie was level on points at 3–3 and consequently, would require a sudden-death leg. It proved to be a tense finale as Australia missed four darts to win the title. Taylor also missed two before Lewis took out double five to clinch England's first World Cup of Darts title. Four days later, Taylor played Lewis in

225-669: A 131 checkout. Taylor lost in the semi-final of the Players Championship at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet . Whilst attempting to defend the title he won in 2009 at the inaugural staging of the event, Taylor lost to eventual champion Paul Nicholson . Taylor admitted, following his defeat, that he had had little time to practice after his World Championship win. Taylor made history in the 2010 Premier League final against defending champion James Wade by hitting two nine-dart finishes in

300-526: A major event for the second time this year as he missed six match darts on the way to a three sets to two defeat in the second round of the World Grand Prix . Taylor qualified from Group 4 of the Championship League winning all nine of his games and concluding with a 6–1 win over Mark Walsh . In the winners' group, he won each of his seven league matches before defeating Dave Chisnall 6–0 in

375-466: A match, he thought his opponent was suffering from this problem. Aspinall himself invariably denies during interviews that the hiccups have a mental cause. Aspinall was beaten 6–5 by Stuart Kellett in the second round of the 2016 UK Open . At the sixth Players Championship he reached his first quarter-final on the main tour and narrowly lost 6–5 against Vincent van der Voort . Aspinall qualified for his first Grand Slam of Darts , but could not get

450-469: A nine-darter earlier in the tournament during his second round match against Tony West . He reached the final of the fourth Players Championship event a day later where he lost 6–5 to Dave Chisnall. Taylor hit his second nine-dart finish of the weekend in a first round match against Peter Hudson . In June, Taylor looked on course to win his fifth UK Open title after registering convincing wins over Ronnie Baxter , Terry Jenkins and Denis Ovens to book

525-552: A place in the final against Robert Thornton . Taylor won the first two legs, but the Scot then won nine of the next 10 before closing out the match 11–5. Taylor had missed a total of 23 darts at doubles and, in doing so, suffered his sixth defeat in a major PDC final out of the 72 he had contested. Taylor then played in his first European Tour event and gained revenge for his defeat in the World Championship by beating Chisnall 6–2 in

600-590: A poor start to his Premier League Darts campaign which included three defeats in his first four matches, Taylor ultimately finished at the top of the Premier League standings. He beat Adrian Lewis 11–1 with a 112.68 average in the semi-final, and went on to win his fourth consecutive Premier League title with a 16–8 victory over Wade whilst averaging 108.36. He won his second US Open title in May 2008, defeating Colin Lloyd in

675-531: A professional darts player, to take care of his family and on the condition that he give up his job in the ceramic industry. Bristow sponsored Taylor and they travelled to Las Vegas where Taylor was beaten in the first round of the North American Open as he struggled during his first year on tour. Taylor's first title came at the Canadian Open in 1988, defeating then World Champion Bob Anderson in

750-422: A record eight consecutive years beating Peter Manley in the 1999 and 2002 finals, Priestley for a fourth time in 2000, and John Part in 2001. Part would finally end the run by beating Taylor 7–6 ( sets ) in the 2003 World Championship final. Sid Waddell attributed this defeat to a weight-loss of three stone which he claimed affected Taylor's balance and resulted in him throwing "a quarter to half an inch below

825-473: A repeat of the inaugural final in 1994. Priestley achieved the first 100 average in a final in 1996 but still lost 6–4. The 1997 final saw Taylor recover from 0–2 down to win the title 6–3, and the 1998 final saw Taylor lose just two legs in the entire match en route to a 6–0 win and an average of 103.98. Taylor's victory and sixth title in 1998 meant that he had surpassed his mentor Eric Bristow 's haul of five World Championships. Taylor's record at Blackpool in

SECTION 10

#1732847499670

900-446: A seed since Simon Whitlock in 2010. He lost to Mervyn King in the first round 10-5 despite averaging 103. At the 2020 World Championship Aspinall once again reached the semi-finals, beating Gary Anderson en route. He eventually fell to defending champion Michael van Gerwen . At the 2021 World Championship , Aspinall beat Scott Waites 3–2 in the second round before losing 4–2 in the third round to Vincent van der Voort . At

975-495: A selection of matches. The PDC announced in December 2017 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2025. Sixteen nine-dart finishes have been thrown in the Premier League. The first one was in 2006, and the most recent one was in 2024. Since the tournament made its debut in 2005, Phil Taylor made an appearance in every Premier League competition until his retirement following

1050-511: A terraced house in Burslem, living near to Eric Bristow 's pub the Crafty Cockney. A few months later, his wife Yvonne bought him a set of darts for his birthday and he started playing weekly, occasionally at Bristow's pub. By 1986, he was selected for the county team and playing at Super League level. Bristow started sponsoring him by loaning him £10,000 later that year to help him get started as

1125-471: A thrilling final. Taylor went on to win the World Matchplay for a record 12th time in 18 years in 2011. He beat Mark Hylton 10–8 in the 1st round, Wayne Jones 13–7 in the 2nd round, Wes Newton 16–5 in the quarter-final, Andy Hamilton 17–9 in the semi-final and James Wade 18–8 in the final. His overall tournament average was more than 106. One week later, Taylor went to Düsseldorf to compete in

1200-574: A win out of his group fixtures with Raymond van Barneveld , Mensur Suljović and Danny Noppert to finish bottom of his group. Aspinall won his first ranking PDC title in September 2018, beating Ryan Searle 6–4 in the final of Players Championship 18, in Barnsley . Aspinall made his Players Championship Finals debut at the 2018 edition as the 25th seed. He defeated 40th seed Martin Schindler 6–1 in

1275-625: Is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed " The Power ", he dominated darts across three decades and is widely considered the greatest darts player of all time, having won 214 professional tournaments, including a record 85 major titles and a record 16 World Championships . In 2015, the BBC rated Taylor among the ten greatest British sportsmen of the last 35 years. Taylor won eight consecutive World Championships from 1995 to 2002, reached 14 consecutive finals from 1994 to 2007 and reached 21 world finals overall, all of which are records. He held

1350-558: Is currently the World No. 12 . Nicknamed "The Asp" , he has won 8 senior PDC titles, including the 2023 World Matchplay , the 2019 UK Open and 2019 US Darts Masters . Aspinall played semi-professional football as a goalkeeper, having once been scouted by Manchester United 's academy. He was offered a deal by Rangers but turned it down as his family did not want to move to Scotland. He played in Stockport County 's academy until he

1425-571: The 2018 PDC World Darts Championship . Raymond van Barneveld competed in every Premier League from 2006 to 2019. From 2005 until the 2010 tournament, the top six players in the PDC Order of Merit after the PDC World Darts Championship automatically qualified, with one wildcard (2005 and 2006) and two wildcards (2007–2010) chosen by either the PDC or Sky Sports . From the 2011 tournament, only

1500-603: The 2022 World Championship , Aspinall was whitewashed 4–0 in the third round by Callan Rydz . At the World Grand Prix in October, Aspinall reached the final, where despite briefly rallying from 4–0 down, he finally succumbed 5–3 to Michael van Gerwen . He also reached the final of the Grand Slam of Darts in November, losing 16–5 to Michael Smith , who won his first major title. At the 2023 World Championship , Aspinall lost 4–3 in

1575-815: The British Darts Organisation (BDO) until 1993. Amidst growing disenchantment with the BDO, he was among 16 top players who broke away to form their own organisation, the World Darts Council, now known as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He won the PDC Player of the Year award six times (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and was twice nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of

SECTION 20

#1732847499670

1650-819: The International Darts League tournament, and twice in a row to Raymond van Barneveld in the UK Open and the Las Vegas Desert Classic . He bounced back in the second half of the year to win the World Matchplay , the World Darts Trophy (a BDO affiliated event), and the World Grand Prix . The 2007 World Final was contested between Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld . The match was tied at 6–6 in sets with van Barneveld leading 2–1 in legs. However, Van Barneveld missed four darts and Taylor tied

1725-622: The UK Open in Bolton, he suffered an 11–4 loss to van Barneveld. He lost to Mark Dudbridge at the Las Vegas Desert Classic , and lost at the World Matchplay in Blackpool. At the World Grand Prix in Dublin, he lost to Adrian Gray . Taylor feared that his career was in decline but vowed to continue until 2012. Having appeared in 14 out of 14 PDC World Darts Championship finals between 1994 and 2007, Taylor's record run came to an end in 2008 where he

1800-520: The UK Open , Taylor broke the world record for the highest average in a televised game by averaging 118.66 against Kevin Painter in round four- he won the match 9–0. These noteworthy performances, in addition to his longevity, contributed to Taylor's nomination for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 2010. He was voted runner-up to A.P. McCoy . However, defeats in the World Grand Prix,

1875-457: The world number one ranking for thirteen years in total, including eight in a row from 2006 to 2013. He won 70 PDC Pro Tour events, which was a record until Michael van Gerwen passed it in February 2019. Taylor hit a record 11 televised nine-dart finishes (and 22 overall). He was also the first person to hit two nine-dart finishes in the same match. Taylor played in competitions organised by

1950-701: The 2011 European Championship. He was aiming to win his fourth consecutive European title and did just that by beating John Michael 6–3, Mervyn King 10–3, Paul Nicholson 10–7, Simon Whitlock 11–4 and Adrian Lewis 11–8. He had a tournament average of 105.15. On 27 September, Taylor competed in Group One of the Championship League and won all seven of his qualifying games: 6–3 against Adrian Lewis, 6–2 against Terry Jenkins, 6–3 against Wes Newton, 6–2 against James Wade, 6–3 against Simon Whitlock, 6–2 against Gary Anderson and 6–1 against Mark Webster. Taylor finished

2025-411: The 60 bed". Taylor went into the game a 1/7 favourite with bookmakers, but Part raced into leads of 3–0 and 4–1. Taylor fought back before ultimately being defeated 7–6. Taylor would improve his record at Blackpool during this spell. After losing the 1999 semi-final of the World Matchplay to Manley, he would go on to win the title for the next five years (2000–2004) beating five different opponents in

2100-408: The BDO was no longer serving the interests of the game at the top level. In 1993, Taylor was among a group of top players, which included every previous world champion, who broke away from the game's ruling body, the British Darts Organisation , and formed their own organisation, the World Darts Council (WDC), later renamed the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). In the 1993 World Championship ,

2175-681: The Century" at the Wembley Conference Centre . The second challenge match came in 2004 against Andy Fordham at the Circus Tavern . Taylor was leading 5–2 in sets when Fordham, suffering a suspected asthma attack, abandoned the match. Taylor reclaimed the World Championship in 2004 after edging Kevin Painter in the final 7–6 following a sudden death leg. After the match, having trailed 4–1 and 5–3, Taylor described himself as "a very lucky man" claiming that "Kevin out-played me". Referring to

2250-586: The Grand Slam, as well as a surprising loss to Mark Webster five sets to two in the quarter-final of the 2011 World Championship , meant that Taylor began 2011 as holder of four major titles- the World Matchplay, the Premier League, the European Championship and the UK Open. He would bounce back and win his first major tournament in seven months at the 2011 Players Championship by beating Gary Anderson 13–12 in

2325-749: The Open events taking the titles in the Isle of Man , Finland , North America, Denmark as well as the British Pentathlon, British Masters, Europe Cup and the game's second major tournament at the time, the Winmau World Masters . Taylor's defence of the World Championship in 1991 ended at the quarter-final stage with a loss to Dennis Priestley , who went on to win his first world title. He picked up fewer titles in 1991 losing both his Danish Open and World Masters titles in finals to Rod Harrington . Taylor regained

Premier League Darts - Misplaced Pages Continue

2400-485: The WDC's second major event, the World Matchplay , was not as strong early in his career as it has been in recent times. Taylor lost to Bob Anderson in 1994 , Peter Evison in 1996 and Ronnie Baxter in 1998 . However, he still won the event twice in the first five years of its existence, beating Priestley 16–11 in 1995 and Alan Warriner-Little 16–11 in 1997 . Taylor stretched his PDC World Championship unbeaten run to

2475-567: The World Championship title the following year beating Mike Gregory 6–5 in the final in a deciding leg. Gregory had missed six darts to win the title himself. Taylor has described the win as one of the favourites of his career. In 1993, Taylor became the landlord at the Cricketers Arms in Newcastle-under-Lyme . From a peak during the 1980s, the game of darts had lost many sponsors and almost all television coverage. Players felt that

2550-455: The Year , in 2006 and 2010; in the latter event he finished as runner-up, making him the only darts player ever to finish in the top two. He was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2011. Taylor retired from professional darts after the 2018 World Championship . In 2022 he entered the inaugural 2022 World Seniors Darts Championship , and lost to Kevin Painter in the quarter-finals. Taylor

2625-484: The epic World Championship final the previous year in which he had been defeated by John Part, Taylor added: "Last year was a good final, but this is one of the best". Taylor would continue his dominance throughout 2005. However, after winning his 13th World Championship title in January 2006, he lost four matches in televised tournaments during the first half of the year. He lost to Jelle Klaasen and Simon Whitlock in

2700-490: The event for the following decade and beyond. After losing to Priestley in the final of the first PDC World Championship in 1994, Taylor began to dominate the event. Rod Harrington reached his first World Championship final in 1995 and, although he had won his previous three finals against Taylor in 1991 and 1992, Taylor took the title 6–2. It would be Harrington's only appearance in a World Final. The finals of 1996, 1997 and 1998 would all feature Taylor and Priestley in

2775-489: The event. Taylor would also win the World Matchplay , the World Grand Prix , the European Darts Championship (achieving an overall 3-dart average per tournament of 111.54) and, for the third successive time, the Grand Slam of Darts in November. Taylor began 2010 by winning his fifteenth World Championship title. He beat Simon Whitlock in the final 7–3 with an average of 104.38 and sealed victory with

2850-565: The final 16–4. However, he was unable to defend his Players Championship title following an 8–5 loss in the last 16 to Mervyn King. In 2012 , Taylor failed to make the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship for the first time in his career following a shock four sets to one defeat in the second round by Dave Chisnall . Taylor, looking to improve upon England's second round exit in 2010 , represented England alongside Adrian Lewis in his second World Cup of Darts . Taylor began

2925-565: The final against Simon Whitlock. Taylor looked to be heading for a comfortable win in the final as he raced into a 7–2 lead. However, the Australian stormed back to level at 7–7. Nevertheless, Taylor held his nerve to win the last three legs of the match to complete a 10–7 win and to seal his sixth Premier League title. Taylor won the third event of the Players Championship in March with a 6–1 victory over Wes Newton while averaging 113.54. He also hit

3000-527: The final for the fourth time. The final proved to be tight and tense, with Taylor edging it 18–15 and extending his unbeaten run at the event to 25 games. In September, Taylor suffered defeat in the European Championship for the first time in a 10–6 quarter-final loss to Brendan Dolan . He averaged just 89.88 in a defeat which ended his run of four consecutive titles stretching back to the inaugural tournament in 2008. Taylor then lost to Thornton in

3075-480: The final of the 2015 PDC World Youth Championship , where he played the German Max Hopp . After 10 legs of holding throw, the final deciding leg was thrown by Aspinall, and despite having match darts, it was Hopp who won 6–5. While throwing a dart, Aspinall often stops to grip it differently. Commentators and others have suggested that this is due to dartitis . Michael van Gerwen indicated in 2022 that, during

Premier League Darts - Misplaced Pages Continue

3150-400: The final, where he defeated Rob Cross 11–5 to take the title, winning the final leg with a 170 checkout. The win took Aspinall into the top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time in his career. Aspinall won his second televised title at the 2019 US Darts Masters , the first event on the 2019 World Series of Darts . It was Aspinall's first World Series event, and the only one he

3225-509: The final. At the UK Open , Taylor was defeated 10–9 in the quarter-final by Raymond van Barneveld . Taylor went on a surge of form from the spring of 2008, by winning his fourth Las Vegas Desert Classic title. Taylor then went on to win the World Matchplay , World Grand Prix , the inaugural European Championship , and the Grand Slam of Darts . In the 2009 world final , Taylor beat Raymond van Barneveld 7–1 for his fourteenth World Championship title. His 110.94 three-dart average

3300-460: The final. After reaching the quarter-final of the British Open and the semi-final of the Winmau World Masters in 1989, he qualified for the World Championship for the first time in 1990. Although he had achieved some success in Open events, he went into the 1990 World Championship as a 125–1 unseeded outsider. He beat number six seed Russell Stewart 3–1 in the first round, Dennis Hickling 3–0 in

3375-561: The final. He had beaten Raymond van Barneveld 6–5 in the quarter-finals and Wes Newton 6–3 in the semis at the event in Berlin . In July, Taylor walked off the stage at the Shetland Open during a semi-final match with Raymond van Barneveld . Taylor then won his fifth consecutive World Matchplay title and thirteenth in total. He beat Mervyn King 10–8, Ian White 13–3, Andy Hamilton 16–11 and Ronnie Baxter 17–10 to face James Wade in

3450-419: The final: Alan Warriner-Little (2000), Richie Burnett (2001), John Part (2002), Wayne Mardle (2003) and Mark Dudbridge (2004). By the end of 2004, Taylor had won 11 World Championships and seven World Matchplays. Taylor has faced the incumbent BDO World Champion in challenge matches on two occasions. In 1999, he beat Raymond van Barneveld by 21 legs to 10 in a one-hour challenge dubbed "The Match of

3525-521: The first eight weeks. This format was reused for the 2020 season, with nine regular players and nine challengers; Henderson, Fallon Sherrock , Jonny Clayton , William O'Connor , Humphries, Bunting, Dobey, de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena were the challengers. Phil Taylor (darts player) European Tour Events Players Championships/Pro Tour Events UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers World Series of Darts Events Other tournament wins Philip Douglas Taylor (born 13 August 1960)

3600-475: The first round but lost to 8th seed James Wade 6–4 in the second round. At the 2019 World Championship , Aspinall made his debut as a ProTour Order of Merit qualifier. He was made a 500/1 outsider before the tournament. In the first round he whitewashed Geert Nentjes 3–0 before defeating the 6th seed Gerwyn Price 3–2 in a deciding set in the second round. Aspinall then defeated Kyle Anderson 4–1, Devon Petersen 4–3 and Brendan Dolan 5–1 on his way to

3675-415: The first week of the 2012 Premier League and managed to draw 7–7 despite being 6–1 down. He averaged 112.79, which was until 2015 the highest average achieved by someone without actually winning the match. Taylor hit the ninth televised nine-darter of his career in the second week of the Premier League on the way to an 8–5 win against Kevin Painter. Two weeks later, he beat Simon Whitlock 8–4 and registered

3750-404: The following season to claim his fifth title in the competition in 2010, achieving two nine-dart finishes in the final, the only player to achieve this accomplishment. Although there have been eight overall winners of the Premier League, the league stage has been dominated by Taylor and Michael van Gerwen , with Taylor topping the table for each of the first eight editions and van Gerwen winning

3825-547: The fourth round. Aspinall's first European Tour appearance was at the Dutch Darts Masters and he squeezed past Jamie Robinson and Vincent van der Voort both 6–5. In the third round Justin Pipe eliminated him 6–4. Aspinall won the seventh Development Tour event of 2015 with a 4–2 victory over Benito van de Pas . He also lost in the final of two other events during the year. Aspinall made his first televised appearance in

SECTION 50

#1732847499670

3900-678: The group stage with a maximum 14 points, a leg difference of +28 (42 legs won and 16 lost), as well as £2,100 won during qualifying. However, he lost the semi-final 6–5 against Wes Newton but still won a further £500 in that match. This took his total winnings for the day to £2,600. As a result of not winning Group One, Taylor returned the following day to play in Group Two. In Group Two, Taylor won six out of his seven games. He lost his fourth match 6–4 to Simon Whitlock, but defeated James Wade 6–1, Mervyn King 6–4, Paul Nicholson 6–0, Mark Webster 6–3, Wes Newton 6–4 and Andy Hamilton 6–1. He would finish top of

3975-485: The group with 12 points, a leg difference of +21 (40 legs won and 19 lost), as well as £2,000 won in qualifying. Taylor beat Paul Nicholson 6–3 in the semi-final and Simon Whitlock 6–5 in the final to win Group Two and progress to the Winner's Group. In the Winner's Group, Taylor won all seven of his qualifying games. He beat Gary Anderson 6–5, Steve Beaton 6–3, Mervyn King 6–3 (hitting his 10th nine-dart finish in competition in

4050-422: The highest three-dart average in the history of the tournament of 117.35. In week 13, Taylor beat James Wade 8–1 and averaged 116.10 in the process. Taylor ended the league campaign top of the table (eight points ahead of second placed Simon Whitlock) and was the only player to have a positive leg difference. In the 14 game league phase, Taylor had registered five of the top fifteen televised three-dart averages in

4125-415: The history of the game. In the semi-finals, he faced James Wade against whom he had inflicted heavy 8–1 and 8–2 defeats during the league stage. The semi-final, however, was much more competitive. Taylor trailed early on before winning four consecutive legs to lead 6–4 before Wade responded to level at 6–6. Taylor then took out a 149 finish, with Wade on 57, to break before closing out the match 8–6 to reach

4200-646: The last unified World Championship to be held, Taylor lost in the second round to Kevin Spiolek . The BDO refused to allow the new organisation to set up and run their own tournaments, so the WDC players decided that they would no longer compete in the BDO World Championship. They founded the WDC World Darts Championship as an alternative. In the first WDC World Championship in 1994 , Taylor lost to Priestley. However, Taylor would go on to dominate

4275-410: The next seven. In 2020, Glen Durrant became the third player to finish top after all league fixtures had been completed. He went on to win the title, meaning all three players both topped the table and won the play-offs at their first attempt. In 2024, this feat was then repeated by Luke Littler who became the fourth player to both top the table following the completion of the league stage and then win

4350-528: The next. From 2006, the snooker moved to late autumn – giving the Premier League darts a straight weekly run in the spring. American sports channel OLN aired the 2006 Premier League Darts season on a slight delay, in August 2006. In 2018, BBC America started airing Premier League Darts on Thursday nights. In 2020, BBC America started airing Premier League Darts on Sunday mornings. German sports channel Sport1 broadcasts most matches live on TV and gives coverages of

4425-443: The play-offs on their debut Premier League appearance. The prize fund has risen from £265,000 in the early years of the tournament, steadily increasing each year for a prize fund of £1,000,000 in 2022. The winner currently receives £275,000. The matches have been broadcast on Thursday nights on Sky Sports since the tournament inception. Originally the league alternated with Premier League Snooker one week and Premier League Darts

4500-532: The post-match handshake on-stage after Taylor beat him 4–0. He did apologise to Taylor after the tournament ended, but received a £750 fine and a four-month ban (suspended for 12 months) from the Darts Regulation Authority. 2007 proved to be Taylor's most barren year in terms of major title success. He was defeated at the International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy in the Netherlands. At

4575-414: The process), Mark Walsh 6–3, Simon Whitlock 6–5, Paul Nicholson 6–1 and Dennis Priestley 6–2 to qualify top of the group. He beat Steve Beaton 6–1 in the semi-final and Paul Nicholson 6–1 in the final to win his second Championship League title. Taylor won £6,600 in the group stages as well as a further £10,000 for winning the title. In November, Taylor won the Grand Slam of Darts by beating Gary Anderson in

SECTION 60

#1732847499670

4650-475: The same match. This was the first time that this had been done in professional darts. By the summer of 2010, Taylor was the holder of the World Championship, the World Matchplay, the Premier League, the UK Open, the European Championship, the World Grand Prix and the Grand Slam of Darts. In fact, the only major televised title not held by Taylor at this time was the Players Championship Finals . At

4725-427: The second round, Ronnie Sharp 4–2 in the quarter-finals and Cliff Lazarenko 5–0 to reach the final. He would then meet his mentor, Eric Bristow. Bristow had been suffering with dartitis since 1986 but had recovered his world number one ranking to be the top seed in the event. After sharing the first two sets, Taylor beat Bristow 6–1 in sets to claim his first world title. For the rest of 1990, Taylor dominated

4800-415: The semi-finals (averaging 112.73) and Simon Whitlock 6–4 in the final (averaging 108.20) to clinch his third Championship League title. Nathan Aspinall Players Championships World Series of Darts PDC Home Tour Challenge tour Nathan Aspinall (born 15 July 1991) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he

4875-512: The semi-finals, where he lost to Michael Smith 6–3. Following Gary Anderson 's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League , Aspinall was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. He played a one-off match against Michael Smith on night six in Nottingham , losing 7–2. Aspinall won his first PDC major at the 2019 UK Open , defeating Toni Alcinas , Christian Kist , Madars Razma , Steve Lennon , Ross Smith and Gerwyn Price to reach

4950-465: The set at 2–2. The set went to 5–5 before van Barneveld won the sudden death leg for his fifth World Championship (four with the BDO and one with the PDC). Taylor said: "Of all the finals I've played in, I would probably put this one as the best." Chris Mason hit the headlines for criticising Taylor in the newspapers before their last 16 match at the 2007 World Championship and allegedly swearing at him during

5025-404: The third round to Josh Rock . In July he won a second televised major at the World Matchplay , defeating Jonny Clayton 18–6 in the final. At the 2024 World Championship , Aspinall suffered a shock early exit, losing 3–0 in the second round to Ricky Evans . At the 2024 UK Open Aspinall defeated Scott Mitchell 10–6 in the fourth round but lost 10–9 to Damon Heta in a deciding leg in

5100-471: The top four in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualified, with four wildcards (2011 and 2012) chosen by both the PDC and Sky Sports. In 2013, the tournament grew from eight players to ten, with the top four players in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualifying and six other players chosen as Wildcards on the basis of their performance in the past year or in earlier editions of the Premier League. In 2022,

5175-690: The tournament shrank back down to eight. In 2024, both Luke Humphries and Luke Littler have made their debuts, with Littler, aged 17 years and 11 days when the 2024 campaign began, the youngest ever competitor in the Premier League. Littler would also become the youngest player to win the Premier League, aged 17 years and 123 days. When Gary Anderson withdrew from the 2019 season just before it began, Chris Dobey , Glen Durrant , Steve Lennon , Luke Humphries , John Henderson , Nathan Aspinall , Max Hopp , Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jeffrey de Zwaan were named as "contenders" to play in Anderson's place each of

5250-496: The tournament sluggishly, losing his singles matches against Ken MacNeil of Canada and Gary Mawson of the United States. Despite this, England progressed following a sudden-death leg against Canada and a doubles victory against the United States. A comfortable 5–1 win over Wales booked England's place in the final against the Australian pairing of Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson . Taylor won both his singles matches (including

5325-542: Was 15, joining Cheadle Town . He worked as a trainee accountant before quitting to become a professional darts player. Aspinall began playing in PDC Development and Challenge Tour events in 2012. His first semi-final in those came in 2013, where he lost 4–2 to Max Hopp . He won a two-year PDC Tour Card in 2015 through the Q School Order of Merit and qualified for the UK Open , where he beat Chris Dobey 5–1 and James Richardson 9–4, before losing 4–9 to James Wade in

5400-534: Was beaten in the quarter-final. This was the first time that he had not reached the final stage of the PDC World Darts Championship. Taylor had been taken to the final set in each of his first three rounds before eventually losing to Wayne Mardle 5–4 ( sets ) despite leading 3–0 at one stage. Before the start of the Premier League tournament, Taylor unveiled some new black 26g darts. Despite

5475-463: Was born to Doug and Liz Taylor on 13 August 1960 in Burslem , Stoke-on-Trent . He left school at the age of 16, and after holding a few jobs including sheet metal worker, he spent most of his early working days making ceramic toilet roll handles, for which he earned £52 a week. Although he had liked to play darts and football as a child, he never took up the games seriously until 1986 when he moved into

5550-449: Was selected to compete in during the 2019 edition. In the first round, he defeated Shawn Brenneman 6–2 before achieving wins over Rob Cross 8–5, and Peter Wright 8–7 in a last leg decider. Aspinall averaged 106.70 in the final, defeating Michael Smith 8-4. Aspinall received £20,000 in prize money for his victory. He made his debut at the World Matchplay at the 2019 event . He was the first player to make his World Matchplay debut as

5625-465: Was the highest recorded in a PDC final. His average during the course of the tournament was 104.08. In June, Taylor beat Colin Osborne 11–6 in the final of the UK Open . It was his third title overall at the event and his first since 2005. His tournament average was 107.38. More success followed throughout 2009 with Taylor winning his fifth Las Vegas Desert Classic at what was the final instalment of

#669330