Taylor Back to his Brilliant Best
- By Jaymes Monte on March 23, 2011 11:54 GMT
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor takes on James Wade at the Brighton Centre this Thursday evening as the Premier League darts group stages approach the halfway point.
Having lost his opening game of the tournament The Power is now undefeated in five subsequent games and has put to bed the belief that he may be a spent force in the game. In the weekend’s RTL7 International Masters final Taylor recorded a 113.60 three-dart average, the highest ever in a televised final.
In beating Raymond van Barneveld 8-3 in the final he claimed his second title of the year and added a further €20,000 to his career earnings.
“I'm delighted to have won," said Taylor. “To play Raymond in a final in Holland's a huge honour and I enjoyed it because he brings the best out of me.
“Since I returned to using the darts I did so well with last year I've been really pleased with my form and it showed again here.”
In order to reach the final Taylor defeated this week’s Premier League opponent James Wade 8-3 in the quarter finals. Wade’s form has been disappointing this season but he believes that he is also edging back towards some semblance of form.
“Phil played better than me but I am coming back into form slowly,” said Wade following defeat to Taylor at the weekend.
“I can take a lot of positives out of this, especially how I played against Simon Whitlock, and I played well in patches, but my whole game isn't too far off.”
The bookmakers have Phil Taylor as the 2/5 betting favourite to continue his hot streak of form and pick up a further two points here. Wade is priced at 4/1 for the win and the draw is a 9/2 chance.
In the night’s opening match Mark Webster takes on Simon Whitlock as both players look to add a level of consistency to their respective Premier League campaigns.
Both players are currently locked on four points from their opening six fixtures despite, at various times, both players playing some of the best darts that we have seen in the tournament. Whitlock is made the 10/11 favourite by the bookmakers with a Webster win priced at 15/8 and the draw at 4/1.
