Champions League of Darts 2016: Taylor overcomes MVG

The 16-time world champion crushed the tournament favourite 10-4 during their group stage clash on Saturday and repeated the trick 24 hours later with an 11-5 triumph in the final at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena as he lifted the trophy and picked up the £100,000 top prize.

Taylor had taken a three-week break from competition to recharge his batteries and spend more time on the practice board, while van Gerwen was busy winning six successive tournaments to take his seasonal tally to 19 - and his decision paid off handsomely as he ended the weekend with a perfect record from his five games.

The victory in the PDC's first BBC-televised event also gives Taylor an important head-to-head triumph over van Gerwen after missing seven match darts to beat the Dutchman in the Masters final at the start of 2016.

He was also defeated by his arch rival in the semi-finals of the UK Open and the finals of the Premier League and the World Matchplay.

The 56-year-old headed into the final in confident mood after brushing aside James Wade 11-3 in the semi-finals - the 50th time he's beaten the Machine - while Van Gerwen also enjoyed a comfortable last-four showdown having come from 4-2 down to thrash Gary Anderson 11-5.

Taylor made a bright start when opening up a 2-0 lead but two missed darts at a double allowed MVG back in to get off the mark. It could have been 2-2 after the Power missed three more attempts at a double but eventually got the job done on his next visit.

The Power then moved into a 4-1 lead before the Dutchman produced an 11-darter and a 110 finish to pull back to 6-3. 

Seven perfect darts in the 10th leg before finishing an 11-darter moved him 7-3 up at the interval and then after the break he punished more misses from van Gerwen to pull six legs clear.

The world No 1 hit back by finishing tops and 70, but the 15th leg proved crucial as the 27-year-old landed a 180 and 171 only to see Taylor finish 81 on the bull move to the brink of a win which sealed in style with a 114 checkout.

Taylor said: "It's fantastic. I'm over the moon with this. Just to get to the final is tough, it's the top eight players in the world and it's hard work.

"I was worried about the final, with my energy levels, but I seemed to click at the right times and hit the right shots and put Michael under pressure.

"Michael's brilliant, he's just won three or four tournaments on the trot but maybe that showed in the final. I've really appreciated the Cardiff crowd, who were brilliant."

Van Gerwen picked up £50,000 as runner-up, but after winning four tournaments in the past week he admitted:  "Maybe the tank was empty but I know I can do a lot better. Phil was the better player, he won all his games this weekend and fair play to him. You can't win all the time but hopefully I can do something good in the next few tournaments.

"I feel fantastic but I let myself down in this tournament, and I'm disappointed with myself but I need to have a moment of rest."

The Stoke legend's triumph was celebrated by followers of our darts tipster Chris Hammer, who backed the Power at 9/2 for reasons laid out in this in-depth preview.

In the afternoon session, van Gerwen survived his Group A shoot-out with Peter Wright to qualify for the knockout stages behind Taylor.

It was a winner-progresses contest after the pair had both beaten Robert Thornton and lost to Taylor on Saturday but MVG was much the stronger as he cruised to a 10-5 win over the world number five, taking an early 5-1 lead and holding on to the advantage.

Taylor topped Group A with his dominant 10-2 defeat of Thornton while in Group B Anderson booked his spot in the last four with a third successive win, defeating Adrian Lewis 10-5 in their decider.

Lewis, who needed to win the contest 10-3 or better to progress, made a bright start to lead 2-0 and 5-2, but Anderson found his range to claim eight straight legs as he confirmed a semi-final berth.

Wade held his nerve to defeat Michael Smith 10-5 in their final Group B clash as he sealed his own last four place, continuing the strong finishing which had been a feature of his weekend in Cardiff.

 

Champions League of Darts Group Tables

Group A

Phil Taylor (4) P 3 W 3 D 0 L 0 LegDiff +19 Pts 6
Michael van Gerwen (1) P 3 W 2 D 0 L 1 LegDiff +4 Pts 4
Peter Wright (5) P 3 W 1 D 0 L 2 LegDiff -6 Pts 2
Robert Thornton (8) P 3 W 0 D 0 L 3 LegDiff -17 Pts 0

Group B

Gary Anderson (2) P 3 W 3 D 0 L 0 LegDiff +13 Pts 6
James Wade (6) P 3 W 2 D 0 L 1 LegDiff +9 Pts 4
Adrian Lewis (3) P 3 W 1 D 0 L 2 LegDiff -10 Pts 2
Michael Smith (7) P 3 W 0 D 0 L 3 LegDiff -12 Pts 0

Champions League of Darts 2016: Results

Saturday September 24
Afternoon Session - Best of 19 legs
Live on BBC1 from 1.15pm
Gary Anderson 10-5 Michael Smith (Group B)
Adrian Lewis 3-10 James Wade (Group B)
Phil Taylor 10-5 Peter Wright (Group A)
Michael van Gerwen 10-5 Robert Thornton (Group A)

Evening Session- Best of 19 legs
Live on BBC2 from 6.30pm
Michael Smith 8-10 Adrian Lewis (Group B)
Gary Anderson 10-7 James Wade (Group B)
Phil Taylor 10-4 Michael van Gerwen (Group A)
Peter Wright 10-6 Robert Thornton (Group A)

Sunday September 25
Afternoon Session- Best of 19 legs
Live on BBC2 from 1pm
James Wade 10-5 Michael Smith (Group B)
Gary Anderson 10-5 Adrian Lewis (Group B)
Phil Taylor 10-2 Robert Thornton (Group A)
Michael van Gerwen 10-5 Peter Wright (Group A)

Evening Session (6.30pm)
Live on BBC2 from 6.30pm
Semi-Finals - Best of 21 legs
Gary Anderson 5-11 Michael van Gerwen
James Wade 3-11 Phil Taylor

Final - Best of 21 legs
Michael van Gerwen 5-11 Phil Taylor