Darts legend Phil Taylor announces retirement
"The Power" doesn't want any more. At the age of 63, Phil Taylor's sporting future has come to an end. The 16-time world champion only wants to play one more year on the senior tour and then call it a day, unless a miracle happens.
Darts legend Phil Taylor is retiring from competitive sport after next year. The 16-time world champion made the announcement on Monday via his equipment supplier Target. "I will retire from competitions at the end of next year - unless I throw a nine-darter every time, then you'll have to drag me out," Taylor is quoted as saying.
The 63-year-old Taylor ended his PDC career after the 2018 World Championship, in which he only lost to Rob Cross in the final. Since 2022, however, he has returned to the oche on the newly created senior tour. At the two World Championships last year and this year, however, "The Power" was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
"When you don't perform as well as you can, it breaks my heart," said Taylor, who is planning the coming season as a kind of farewell tour. To this end, the Englishman also wants to appear in several show tournaments, as he has already done on several occasions. However, he intends to remain involved in the sport of darts, which he dominated for over a decade and almost single-handedly raised to a new standard.
Only five defeats in 21 World Championship finals
"It's been a good journey. But now it's time. I'll be 65 in 2025," said Taylor, who won a total of 85 major titles and became a multi-millionaire through darts: "This decision is both a physical and a mental decision."
The 2007 World Championship final between Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor is still one of the greatest matches in darts history 16 years later. The Englishman had repeatedly compared the matches against the Dutchman with the clash between "Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali" or the soccer matches between "Holland and Germany in the World Cup final".
In 2007, van Barneveld decided the final in a sudden-death leg. That final catapulted the sport of darts into new spheres. For Taylor, it was one of only five defeats in a total of 21 World Championship finals.
Despite announcing his retirement after next year, Phil Taylor expressed a jest about continuing if he throws a perfect nine-darter in every game. Regarding his darts career, Phil Taylor, the 16-time world champion, has mentioned playing only one more year on the senior tour before retiring completely.
Source: www.ntv.de
