Phil 'The Power’ Taylor beats Simon Whitlock in style to claim 15th world title

There has been no shortage of debate in recent weeks about just who should be considered the greatest sportsman of the past decade.

Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Lance Armstrong and Michael Schumacher are among those who set new standards.

Yet regardless of the disputed place of darts in the hierarchy of sports, it is doubtful whether anyone has achieved a more complete dominance of their chosen profession than Phil 'The Power’ Taylor.

With unerring predictability and brilliance, Taylor on Sunday night became the first world champion of this new decade by clinching an unprecedented 15th title with a 7-3 victory over Australia’s Simon Whitlock. It arrives exactly 20 years after his first world title when he defeated Eric Bristow in a final that signalled the end of his mentor’s dominance of the sport.

To put Taylor’s achievement in perspective, the three next best players in the sport’s history — Bristow, Raymond van Barneveld and John Lowe — have won only 13 world titles between them.

Whitlock had performed superbly in defeating Van Barneveld and James Wade, the No 2 and No 3 seeds, on his way to the final but the difference between Taylor and the rest of the world is vast.

Taylor’s three-dart average in the final was 106, just below last year’s standard of 111, but still good enough to comfortably defeat Whitlock, an 80-1 outsider at the start of the tournament.

Three 180s put Taylor on his way in the first set and, while the unflappable Whitlock did exploit some uncharacteristically wayward finishing to take sets two, three and nine, the sheer weight of scoring was ultimately too much. Checkouts of 167 and 161 from Taylor in the fifth set signalled the turning of the tide.

Even so, with Whitlock also averaging well above 100 and both players producing maximum 170 finishes, it was among the best finals in world championship history. With a 131 checkout, Taylor certainly sealed the record-breaking £200,000 winner’s prize in style.

“It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of, everything I’ve practised for — it was one of the greatest finals,” Taylor said. “I love everything about my job, the competition and still trying to find out new ways to get better.”