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Phil Taylor after his World Matchplay wins in 1995 and 2017

World Matchplay: Phil Taylor's superhuman statistics and records at Blackpool show a level of dominance that we'll never see again in darts

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Mon July 08, 2024 · 5M ago

Can anyone ever be as dominant in one tournament than Phil Taylor at the World Matchplay?

You look at what Rafael Nadal has done at the French Open and it’s nothing short of ridiculous when you consider the talent he’s had to go through year in, year out – and with all his various injury problems.

He won the title 14 times in 18 appearances and lost just three of his 115 matches. It borders on superhuman.

But I believe the record of Phil Taylor at Blackpool is even more mind boggling than Nadal at Roland Garros.

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Of the 72 titles he won in the PDC during his legendary career, an astonishing 16 of them came at the World Matchplay from 17 finals! If Nadal had done that at the French Open they’d have said it was the greatest steak in the history of sport but because it’s darts, this doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

"He has done it!"

Phil Taylor's Blackpool story had a fairytale ending, as he won his 16th World Matchplay title 22 years on from his first...#MatchplayMemories 🏆 pic.twitter.com/xLmMjGiIz6
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 14, 2023

The Power's success at the Winter Gardens spanned 24 appearances from 1994 until his triumphant Blackpool farewell in 2017 aged 56 – whilst two of his 11 nine-dart finishes also came at this iconic venue.

15 YEARS AGO TODAY! Phil Taylor landed the first televised nine-darter in the PDC at the World Matchplay... pic.twitter.com/fEkBIMAk0s
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) August 1, 2017

Those records are impressive enough but if you take a closer look at the statistics of his performances that led to such success, then your mind will be blown. It’s mythical stuff. They’re all unfathomable and won’t be broken.

There hasn't been a NINE-DARTER at the World Matchplay since 2014, when Phil Taylor produced this effort. ⬇️

Will we see one this year? 🎯 pic.twitter.com/VLBt26j0EC
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 22, 2017

Almost invincible

In total, Phil Taylor played 107 matches on this stage and won 99 of them! He will actually hate the fact he didn’t reach a century, but nevertheless, this is outrageous. And maybe it’s fitting that he has one thing in common with another sporting great in Don Bradman.

The players that beat him deserve to be in their own Hall of Fame it’s that rare – and nobody managed it twice. Bob Anderson (1994 R2), Peter Evison (1996 R2), Ronnie Baxter (1998 QF), Peter Manley (1999 SF), John Part (1999 QF), Terry Jenkins (2007, SF), James Wade (2015, SF) and Michael van Gerwen (2016 F).

Crazy averages

Back in the inaugural edition of 1994, Phil Taylor averaged in the 80s in both of his matches as he bowed out to Bob Anderson in round two.

Over the next two editions – one of which he won in 1995 – he only managed one 100 average and in the other seven games he didn’t really get close to three figures.

Around that period, something made him click into gear. There was a match in 1997 when he averaged 113.43 in beating Gary Mawson 8-0 and hit a bullseye in the last leg for a 10-darter. Everyone though, "What was that?" After that, his stats were frightening for 21 years of almost total dominance.

Phil Taylor vs. Alan Warriner - 1997 PDC World Matchplay FINAL

Overall, he averaged over 100 in 62 matches, including two that came in defeat, and many obviously soared well over three figures.

If you think about the supposed ‘impossibility’ of averaging over 110 in these long format matches – he did it four times and they were all over 111!

His highest was 114.99 against Barrie Bates in 2010 which was the same year he managed the record tournament average of 106.31. It's hard enough for most players to average over 100 on TV in one game! Let alone over five matches, in which he played 104 legs.

To add some context to that year, I remember an interview he gave to Sky Sports at the start of the tournament when he said that losing to me in the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals earlier in the season woke him up. It renewed something inside him that he wanted to dominate again. He went on to hit two nine-darters in one night against James Wade in the Premier League that year before demolishing everyone in Blackpool. Say no more.

The Power's best average in a final came in the epic 2013 edition when he managed 111.23 in an 18-13 victory over Adrian Lewis, who managed 105.92 – the highest ever in a Blackpool defeat.

2013 World Matchplay Final Taylor vs Lewis

Of the top 10 match averages in World Matchplay history, Taylor features seven times and holds the top four places, while Michael van Gerwen, Lewis and Peter Wright are the only others to get 110.

In his 17 finals, Taylor averaged over 100 in 12 of his victories and also when finishing runner-up to Michael van Gerwen in 2016.

By the time he walked off the stage holding the trophy that’s now named after him for the last time in 1997, his Blackpool average was 100.93! Over 107 matches. That’s other worldly.

I was happy averaging over 100 in one match. I was never a big average kind of guy and if ever I did it, I treated it like a big event. In all the tournaments I played that were recorded statistically, I only managed it 20 times and just once in a big stage TV event against Terry Jenkins in the 2011 European Championship! Taylor did it 62 times at the World Matchplay!

In total, Taylor averaged over 100 for the whole tournament in 13 editions, including 10 in a row from 2008 to his farewell year in 2017.

The closest anyone else came is the fifth highest tournament average of 104.82 was when Peter Wright managed a stunning 104.37 in 2021. Imagine Snakebite being able to do that many years on the trot. It just wouldn't be done.

What could a peak Taylor do now?

If he was in his prime now and could manage that standard for the next 24 editions then despite the rising standards of everyone else, he’d still win a lot of World Matchplay titles. Maybe not 16, but probably more than anyone else.

Recently the world of darts waxed lyrical about Jonny Clayton averaging over 90 in 53 consecutive matches in all players championships which is a record in the Dart Connect era of recording stats since 2018.

Taylor averaged over 90 in Blackpool 99 in a row since his third and last sub-90 against Tom Kirby in 1996. And that’s amidst all the pressure and prestige of the second biggest tournament in the sport. It’s a lot harder to do high averages in this kind of environment!

I don't think anyone - even in this new era when more and more people are able to produce 100+ averages - can achieve these numbers on such a regular, consistent basis.

And here's another thing - the dart boards are better now than in Taylor's heyday. If a peak Power had what we all have now, then these averages would be even bigger. These boards are more receptive, more vivid and do assist people to get better averages.

It's a standard that was set more than a decade ago and even though I was playing in that era, I still can't comprehend it. Nobody has done it since, not even Michael van Gerwen.

It really is a level of dominance we’ll never see again.

Phil Taylor: World Matchplay statistics

Appearances: 24 (1994-2017)
Titles: 16
Finals: 17
Win-loss record: 99-8 (92.52%)
Highest match average: 114.99 (10-6 v Barrie Bates in 2010 L32)
Highest average in final: 111.23 (18-13 v Adrian Lewis in 2013)
Number of 100+ averages: 62 (including two in defeats)
Number of 110+ averages: 4
Number of 90+ averages: 104 (including 99 in a row from 1996)
Highest tournament average: 106.32 (2010)
Tournament averages over 100: 13 (including 10 in a row from 2008)

Top five tournament averages

106.31 (2010)
114.99 v Bates, 104.6 v Beaton, 103.31 v Painter, 103.46 v Whitlock & 105.16 v van Barneveld
105.81 (2013)
105.73 (2009)
105.50 (2011)
104.82 (2008)

* The closest anyone else has come is Peter Wright’s 104.37 in 2021.

Nine-darters: 2

2002: 16-7 v Chris Mason in QFs (112.17 average)
2014: 13-6 v Michael Smith in 2nd rd (105.64 average)

WHO'S HIT MOST NINE-DART FINISHES?

Five highest match averages

114.99: 10-6 v Barrie Bates (2010, L32)
113.43: 8-0 v Gary Mawson (1997, L32)
112.17: 16-7 v Chris Mason (2002, QF)
111.23: 18-13 v Adrian Lewis (2013, F)
109.71: 13-5 v Colin Osborne (2008, L16)

* The highest average from anyone else is Michael van Gerwen’s 110.93 in 2015.

Five highest final averages

111.23: 18-13 v Adrian Lewis (2013)
109.47: 18-9 v James Wade (2008)
107.19: 18-9 v Michael van Gerwen (2014)
106.32: 16-11 v Alan Warriner Little (1997)
106.05: 18-4 v Terry Jenkins (2009)

* The highest winning average in a final from anyone else is Peter Wright’s 105.9 in 2021, while Adrian Lewis managed 105.92 in defeat against Taylor in 2013.

Tournaments in which he averaged 100+ in all five matches:

2013 (103.18 v Klaasen, 102.64 v T Jenkins, 104.38 v Pipe, 107.61 v Wade, 111.23 v Lewis)
2011 (101.66 v Hylton, 108.01 v W Jones, 108.39 v Newton, 105.59 v Hamilton, 103.84 v Wade)
2010 (114.99 v Bates, 104.6 v Beaton, 103.31 v Painter, 103.46 v Whitlock, 105.16 v van Barneveld)