Phil Taylor

Towering Taylor seals Grand-Slam hat-trick

Published: Sunday, 22 November 2009, 8:46PM

A scintillating display of almost flawless darts from Phil "The Power" Taylor saw him seal his third straight Grand Slam of Darts title with a rock-solid dismissal of Scotty "2 Hotty" Waites.

The fourteen-time World Champion took no chances against the dangerous newcomer Waites at the Wolverhampton Civic, crushing the spirited challenge of the Bradford man with a familiarly ruthless display.

Waites's progress to the final had been the story of the week after he produced the darts of his life to beat Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock to make the final - but he could never apply any sort of pressure on Taylor, who saved his best darts of the week for the final.

Many had expected the gutsy Waites to be outclassed by Taylor, the 14-time world champion - and so it proved.

A regulation finish of 80 gave Taylor the first leg of the night throwing with the darts, but worryingly for Waites he took the very next leg against the throw to go 2-0 ahead.

Waites answered back with a 180 to boost his self-belief, but a 72 finish from Taylor asserted his authority again to make it 3-0. Ominously for Waites, Taylor had a 100 per cent record for doubles across the first three legs. The 32-year-old Waites not playing badly, but Taylor was simply on fire.

Taylor's second maximum arrived in the very next leg, only for Waites to answer right back in his face with a 180 of his own. Waites missed double nine - but Taylor finished unerringly again to make it 4-0 - and after just 15 minutes of play Waites already looked dead and buried.

But in the sixth leg, Waites nailed his third maximum to bring the crowd to its feet - and a wonderful finish of 104 made it 4-1 at the break, Waites turning to the crowd to acknowledge their admiration.

Crucially, Waites failed to capitalise on that momentum, losing the sixth leg of the night against the darts as a 57 checkout from Taylor did the damage.

As always, the pressure from Taylor was unrelenting, and before Waites knew it was 6-1 as Taylor finished with a double 16.

To crank up the pressure even further The Power punished Waites with a maximum and strolled to the eighth leg. Waites's average just wasn't enough to cope. Waites, in his firstr final,missed a 126 finish by millimetres and then did the rest with a double 6 to make it 7-1. It was all over.

Waites seemed to wither under assault from Taylor. Waites had 146 left, Taylor was on 20 - but the legend of darts  fluffed his lines and Waites got a leg on the board against the throw.

However, that only appeared to drive Taylor on and he narrowly missed a stunning 132 finish, going astray with his attempt at the double after two bullseyes. Next time at the oche, he nailed the double 16 to make it 8-2 at the second break.

Soon it was 9-2, then 10-2, as Taylor took another leg against the throw and his unstoppable march to a hat-trick of Grand Slam titles continued.

Waites produced another maximum in leg number 13 but double three saw Taylor into an 11-2 lead and he was just five legs away from another title with 45 minutes of the final gone.

To seal the 14th leg, a 170 finish from Taylor (treble 20, treble 20, bull) had the crowd on its feet. Waites allowed himself a rueful smile, the crowd went wild and the writing was very much on the wall at 12-2.

Waites came close to a 123 finish next time around but it wasn't enough and Taylor went into the third break 13-2 ahead. A 116 finish followed for 14-2 - after Waites had went close to a 170 finish of his own - and it was smiles all round as Waites appeared to have accepted defeat.

Taylor bent the wire on a 170 finish attempt but mopped up the 17th leg to make it 15-2 and Taylor was just one leg away in what had been a disappointingly one-sided final.

Taylor signed off in the final leg just millimetres away from a nine-darter - the crowd went wild, he embraced his opponent Waites after the 16-2 drubbing, and it was all over for another year.