Paul Nicholson on waving off Phil Taylor at the UK Open and when Gary Anderson was ready to 'pop him' for being too aggressive

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Tue February 27, 2024 · 10M ago

Paul Nicholson reflects on his famous battles with Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson at the UK Open.

Powering up the rivalry

The match I had with Phil Taylor at the 2011 UK Open when I waved him off will always be one of the matches I’ll be remembered for and I don’t regret anything about it at all.

At that time in my career I felt pretty fearless and thought of myself as the best player in the world.

I’d won a Players Championship event seven days before that UK Open, where I ended up reaching the quarter-finals, and then won the very next one a week later.

Paul Nicholson waving goodbye to Phil Taylor - 2011 PDC UK Open

While the draw was being made I was sat eating in Nandos after beating Gary Anderson 9-8 in a tremendous match during the afternoon session. My manager at the time then told me I’d be playing Phil and I just thought, ‘yeah, OK.” I did not care who I faced and there was probably a small part of me that wanted to play him.

But it wasn’t me waving Phil off the stage that started the rivalry. He tried to get in my head so I thought the best way to keep him quiet was to beat him in a dramatic match and that’s what happened. We all know Phil learned a lot of his psychological tactics from the great Eric Bristow, who was able to flummox some players with just four or five words before stepping onto the oche.

I thought of myself as quite psychologically savvy not long after coming to the PDC and I could see some of Phil’s tactics coming. But what really made me angry on this occasion was him putting his hands on my waist and jostling me around before getting onto the stage. You’re not supposed to touch players unless they invite contact through a handshake or hug for example.

I did not like that at all and refused to acknowledge what he was doing. I kept my sunglasses on and earplugs in and thought “you are going to lose right now because you’ve really hit a nerve.” I may have got the better of him on that occasion but during my era, Phil was by far the best psychological tactician I will ever see.

The Anderson Trilogy

When I made my UK Open debut in 2009 I was already well known due to having already played in a World Championship and Grand Slam of Darts, which helped me climb inside the world’s top 50.

I’d reached the quarter-finals at Ally Pally on my debut a few months earlier but I didn’t play in many tournaments at the start of the season due to some personal problems including a divorce.

I subsequently went into that UK Open playing really poorly and my head was all over the place. That’s when the fines from the DRA started to happen.

My first ever game in this event was against Gary Anderson, who was also making his tournament debut. He was also my first televised opponent in the previous season’s Grand Slam of Darts.

In the practice room beforehand I was hitting absolutely nothing and I was so worried going up on that stage. It was also when I first started with my tie and waistcoat look, which was in tribute to Tom Kirby who had recently passed away.

UK Open 2009 Day 1 Nicholson vs. Anderson 4

I then played really well, averaging 99 and hitting a 132 checkout to beat Gary 6-4 on the Main Stage in Bolton, but my celebration was full of aggression due to everything I’d been going through. Gary was ready to pop me because he thinks I was too aggressive.

But, he didn’t know the full story about what was going on in my life – it was nothing against him. We didn’t speak much for the next couple of years as I thought it best to let him simmer down although our paths kept crossing in the UK Open.

My debut was eventually ended by Ken Mather and that’s when I got my first fine. He had so many fans shouting at me on those outside boards and my subsequent outburst at them got me into big trouble. I was in such a bad place that weekend, and was a fiery red chilli in the melting pot and ready to explode.

Paul Nicholson vs. The Crowd Incident - 2009 PDC UK Open

Quite frankly, when I look back at it now, I got off lightly.

The next year I played Anderson on the Main Stage and that’s when someone in the crowd gave me abuse about my divorce, which also hurt.

Gary and I weren’t talking at the time – not even a greeting when we passed each other in a room - and he badly wanted to take me out. He signalled to the crowd ‘one more’ when he was one leg away from beating me, that’s how much he wanted to win.

I didn’t realise that at the time but when I later saw the footage, I kept it in my memory.

The following year we played each other for the third successive year in the last 32 and I thought “there’s only one result here.” I’d got all my personal issues together and I felt like the best player I could be. It went down to a last leg decider but I nicked it for a very sweet victory.

After that game we drew a line under everything and didn’t have any problems again.

The trilogy with Gary will take up a chapter in my book one day although I’ll always look back on it fondly.

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