'The Power' still has that driving force

DARTS WORLD GRAND PRIX: Phil Taylor, the greatest ever darts player, tells John O'Sullivanhe intends to carry on playing for at least another five years before even considering retirement

DARTS ICON Phil Taylor walks into a room in the Maldron hotel in Smithfield at a couple of minutes after 10 o’clock, some five and a half hours since rising at 4.30am in his Cheshire home to catch a flight to Dublin. He’s here to publicise the bodog.com World Grand Prix that takes place in the Citywest Hotel Convention Centre from October 4th-10th.

While the funereal journey from the airport on a wet Dublin morning has frayed the nerves of several travelling companions, Taylor remains as unflustered as he appears at the oche. A smiling, affable presence, he has a mischievous sense of humour, often self-deprecating. There’s no entourage. He pours his own coffee and mixes effortlessly.

It’s easy to forget that Taylor is a multi-millionaire sportsman, whose career by numbers is unparalleled. He has won the World Championship title on 15 occasions, the World Matchplay (11), the World Grand Prix (nine), Premier League (five), Grand Slam (three), World Masters and World Darts trophy: in all he’s won over 100 ranking tournaments in his 20-year career to date.

Last year he earned over £1 million in prize-money alone and looks like replicating that achievement this season. In June while claiming a fourth UK Open title he elevated the world record high three-dart average for a televised game to 118.66. Then there was the trivial matter of becoming the first player to manage two nine-dart finishes in one match, a feat he achieved in beating James Wade 10-8 in the Premier League final.

To put this in some context and underline the progression in standards, Taylor received a cheque for £100,000 by hitting the first live televised nine-darter in 2002. If he or anyone else manages to do so at Citywest next month they’ll earn £5,000 and have to share that stipend if there are multiple winners.

Taylor disappears for a minute and after a quick change – he’s sporting his darts shirt – returns as ‘The Power’ for a general press conference conducted by PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) chairman Barry Hearn. The latter is here to sell the tournament – four Irish players will take part – and also extol the virtues of the world champion, whom he also manages. Taylor rolls his eyes and tries to dilute the lavish praise with some pithy one-liners.

He’s just turned 50 and is in the best shape of his career, having lost three and a half stone this year facilitated by a nutritionist and building a gym in his Cheshire home. The crash diets are a thing of the past. Taylor points out that to win some tournaments a player will play seven matches in a day, standing for between six and eight hours under hot lights: two days running.

The days of chain smoking and pint supping that characterised the sport are long gone and the younger generation of dart players are less easily identified by their body shape than in the past. “If I’m playing in a tournament I’ll be there for about two and a half hours before a match. Once I get settled in, I’ll probably warm up for about two hours.

“On non-tournament days I’ll practice at home for one and a half hours in the morning. It’s very regimented. I do my practice about 10 o’clock in the morning, have dinner and then do the odd jobs like shopping before hitting the gym in the afternoons. I take the dog for a walk at night. I love the routine; (it’s) a great life.”

Taylor is known for giving his darts (Unicorn Phase 5 Rosso, 26 gram) away to a member of the audience after most of his matches, something that would be an anathema to a snooker player or golfer. He smiles: “It’s just a mindset thing. My sponsors make identical sets of darts for me so it doesn’t make any difference.

“When they make a new dart, the grip is very sharp, which I like. Obviously when you’re using them, the friction of dart hitting dart wears the grip down. I’d change them once or twice a week, every week. I am a nightmare for the sponsors as I’d go through about 300 sets a year.”

At his best he’s unplayable, a perennial challenge he embraces with gusto. “It’s about getting yourself ready; that it is the secret. That’s the exciting part. Make sure you’re peaking at the right time.”

Even the most resolute of opponents have traditionally crumbled in the face of his unrelenting excellence. He sees it in their eye. “Never in the beginning: everyone comes out like boxers, firing at you, trying to knock you out in the first round. But you block them and keep hitting back.

“After about five or six legs, you see it (in their eyes) and you know you have them. You just don’t let up. It’s a very powerful feeling.” It’s an apposite sentiment given his nom de plume.

So what’s the best thing about being the greatest darts player in the world? Taylor answers immediately: “Security for my family. All my kids have houses and they don’t want for anything. Plus I love what I do. We’ll go to 55 (he’s signed a five-year contract) and see where we go from there. At this point I can’t see me stopping.”

Why would you when you’ve got the power?