Taylor assured top spot in Premier League
Phil Taylor ensured that he would top the Holsten Premier League Darts table for a third successive year with an 8-3 win over Colin Lloyd last night.
Taylor has now gone 12 games unbeaten in this year's tournament - and 40 in the history of the Premier League - and holds an unassailable lead at the head of the table with two games remaining.
He confirmed his status in some style in front of a packed King George's Hall in Blackburn, averaging almost 105 and hitting two ton-plus finishes.
"I'm delighted because my first aim was always to finish top," said Taylor, who faces Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld in his final two games.
"My aim now is to be unbeaten going into the play-offs and win the title for a third time."
Wins for Raymond van Barneveld and Terry Jenkins mean that they are now assured of play-off places and Lloyd, Adrian Lewis and Peter Manley cannot break into the top four.
Mathematically, Roland Scholten could still catch Dennis Priestley, but would need the Yorkshireman to lose his last two matches heavily and Scholten to win his own games handsomely to overturn a leg difference of 19.
Scholten kept his hopes alive with an 8-4 win over Manley, while fellow Dutchman van Barneveld produced a sensational showing to defeat Dennis Priestley by the same scoreline.
Van Barneveld - who turns 40 on Friday - joined Taylor in averaging over 104 and hit seven maximums, with both players having a chance of a nine-darter during a high-quality contest.
The night's other game saw Terry Jenkins come from 4-2 down to win 8-5 against Adrian Lewis, winning five successive legs in the middle of the game to end the 22-year-old's feint top four ambitions.
The tournament reaches the penultimate night of the league phase next Thursday with the visit to Alexandra Palace in London, the new home of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
