Phenomenal Phil

[Acrowot]

Phil Taylor breaks record for televised darts average, with 118.66 when he whitewashed Kevin Painter 9-0, in the UK Open in Bolton yesterday.
:snooker:

[ferret]

here is the official press release

SUPERB TAYLOR SWEEPS TO RILEYS DARTS ZONES UK OPEN TITLE PHIL TAYLOR won his fourth Rileys Darts Zones UK Open title with an 11-5 defeat of Gary Anderson at the Reebok Stadium.
Taylor followed up Saturday's world record average for a televised game of 118.66 against Kevin Painter, with victories over Adrian Lewis, Denis Ovens and Anderson on Sunday to take the £40,000 title.
The Stoke legend opened the final with a 161 finish and led 5-1 before the Scot - appearing in his first major final with the PDC - took two of the next three to pull back to 6-3.
But Taylor put his foot on the accelerator to storm to victory, hitting a 167 finish amongst winning five of the next seven legs to take the title with a 121 checkout.
"I'm absolutely delighted," said Taylor. "It's a real challenge to win this event and I was up against a brilliant player in the final against Gary.
"I really enjoyed all the games, against Adrian, against Denis and then Gary today and in the final he did well. You could tell he was a bit tired and I hit him then, but he kept coming back at me.
"To follow up winning the Premier League trophy back with this is special for me and it's an event I love."
Taylor bounced onto stage for the final, defying any fatigue in his third game of the day to open the final with a 161 checkout.
He hit a 180 in taking the next leg before Anderson took the third to get himself on the scoreboard.
But the Scot crucially missed four darts at a double to level the game, and Taylor stepped in on double ten before hitting the same bed for a 4-1 lead - trading 180s with Anderson and punishing another missed double.
Double eight gave Taylor a 5-1 lead before Anderson regained his range on the doubles to win two of the next three in pulling back to 6-3.
Anderson, though, had little answer as Taylor pulled clear in the next three legs, taking out double 16, double eight and an 81 checkout to lead 9-3.
A 110 finish for Anderson gave him a fourth leg, but Taylor bettered that and his own earlier 161 finish by taking out 167 to move a leg away from the win.
Anderson delayed Taylor's crowning moment by taking the 15th leg on double ten, but the World Champion ensured the UK Open trophy would remain in his possession by taking out 121 on the bullseye for the title.
"It's obviously disappointing to lose the final but I have to pay tribute to Phil because he was superb," said Anderson. "He has set the standard for everyone to follow and I know what I have to do to win major titles against him.
"His finishing was great and even though we were both tired he managed to find the energy he needed to win.
"I'm pleased to get to the final, though, because I had some really hard games along the way against Paul Nicholson, Mervyn King and Andy Hamilton. It's my first big final with the PDC and hopefully the first of many."
Anderson had seen off Hamilton in Sunday afternoon's quarter-finals before then defeating Tony Ayres 10-3 in the semis.
Billingshurst's Ayres, ranked 62nd in the world going into the tournament, won through to his first ranking semi-final with a superb 10-9 win over 2008 UK Open winner James Wade in the quarters.
Taylor overcame Denis Ovens 10-5 in a high-quality semi-final where both players averaged over 100, with the Stoke star posting a 113 average to follow his world record 118.66 on Saturday.
Taylor had earlier defeated Adrian Lewis in the quarters, while Ovens' 10-3 defeat of Wes Newton saw him reach the first televised semi-final of his 25-year career.
Rileys Darts Zones UK Open
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 10-3 Tony Ayres
Phil Taylor 10-5 Denis Ovens
Final
Phil Taylor 11-5 Gary Anderson
Semi-Final Reports
GARY ANDERSON 10-3 TONY AYRES
GARY ANDERSON marched into the Rileys Darts Zones UK Open final with a 10-3 defeat of Tony Ayres at the Reebok Stadium.
Anderson followed up his quarter-final defeat of Andy Hamilton with another high-quality display in seeing off Ayres, the world number 62 who had battled through to the last four in his best-ever run in a professional event.
The duo shared the opening two legs before the Scot took three in a row to lead 4-1, including a 121 finish for a 12-darter which was bettered by an 11-dart finish.
Double 16 gave Ayres the sixth leg, but Anderson began the next two with 180s, and finishes on double top and double ten gave him a 7-2 cushion.
Ayres, from Billingshurst in Sussex, took out 64 to win the tenth leg and hit a 180 in the next - only to see Anderson take out double top for a 13-dart finish.
The Scot hit a third 180 of the game and finished 76 to move to the brink of victory, and double top in the next saw his place in the final secured.
"It's a tough event but I'm really pleased to be in the final," said Anderson. "I'm feeling confident and it would be great to win this."
PHIL TAYLOR 10-5 DENIS OVENS
PHIL TAYLOR set up a final against Gary Anderson at the Rileys Darts Zones UK Open with a 10-5 defeat of gritty Denis Ovens at the Reebok Stadium.
Ovens, appearing in his first major semi-final after 25 years as a professional, gave as good as he got against Taylor, taking an early 2-0 lead and trading maximums throughout the contest with the reigning champion.
Taylor ended the game with an average of 113, and hit ten from 12 attempts at a double in a clinical display.
Ovens opened the final with a 180 and broke Taylor's throw with a 14-darter before taking out a bullseye finish of 90 to move 2-0 up.
He was also sat on 81 after nine darts in the third leg, but Taylor followed up a 180 with a bull checkout of his own to get off the mark.
Ovens finished double five and 64 to take two of the next three, with an 11-darter from Taylor sandwiched between them as the Hertfordshire man led 4-2.
Taylor, though, raised his game to superbly reel off five successive legs in taking command of the match - putting together a run of 14, 12, 11, 13 and 14-dart finishes which included a 124 finish, two 180s and a 177 score.
Ovens checked out 71 to win a fifth leg and kicked off the next with a maximum, only for Taylor to fire in another 11-darter - his third of the game - to lead 8-5.
Further 180s from Ovens were not enough in the next two legs as Taylor produced legs of 14 and 12 darts to move into the final.
"I haven't seen Denis play that well on TV and I'm pleased for him," said Taylor. "He countered everything I did so I had to hit that big average to win that."