Barry Hearn has hailed the success of the inaugural PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts after Phil Taylor wrote another chapter in his glittering career by lifting the trophy on Sunday.
The 13-time world champion struggled to shake off fellow Stoke native Andy Hamilton early on, but powered away with nine legs on the spin before fending off the Hammer to win 18-11 on Sunday.
With the raucous Wolverhampton crowd creating a sensational atmosphere yet again, the two players gave them another stupendous match in what has been a riveting nine days of oche action.
Hearn confirmed the event will take place again in 2008 with the finalists of the World Masters, Robert Thornton and Darryl Fitton, invited to compete, along with Taylor, Hamilton and the two semi-finalists Gary Anderson and Kevin McDine.
Hearn, the PDC chairman, claimed: "We're delighted with how successful the first PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts has been.
"The event has produced some great memories; the likes of Kevin McDine reaching the semis as an ITV Wildcard Qualifier, Australia's Pat Orreal reaching the second round and the fantastic matches we had throughout the tournament.
"It was a pleasure welcoming players from the WDF system to compete alongside stars from the PDC, and hopefully all 32 players enjoyed the tournament as much as myself, ITV and the darting public did."
Meanwhile, in the wake of his win, the Power declared: "It means so much to me and I'm absolutely delighted.
"They can't take it away from me - I'm the first name on the trophy and if I never win it again I'm still there, the first.
"It means a lot to me. It's not the money, it's the winning, the prestige, and it shuts a few of the doubters up who have been knocking me over the past few months.
"It's nice to win again, and I thought the first 10 or 15 legs of the final were some of the best ever in such a big game.
"This is one of the biggest tournaments we've got. There was the best players in the world, who have qualified through being the best.
"The standard has been fantastic and some new players have emerged to the general public and are coming through now."
