30th July

Phil Taylor won the World Matchplay in style on Sunday night with an 18-8 victory over Peter Wright. He seems to have found a consistency lacking in his game in recent years and it was a textbook performance. He didn't excel in every leg but took his moments to strike. What was especially noticeable was Taylor's ability to make the third dart count if he'd failed to hit a treble with the first two. The sort of composure that one suspects comes from years of experience at the top. Barring a three leg rally around the midway point, Wright never looked like recovering.

Post match, Wright was almost on the verge of tears, downplaying his own abilities and suggesting that he was only ranked third in the world because he chooses to take part in all of the qualifying tournaments. I personally don't see the issue with this (surely if you're dedicated to your sport you'll take all the game time going) but I understood where he was coming from. It was difficult to watch but also fascinating to see a top level sportsman articulate the sort of feelings I have a lot of the time. Wright has now lost in the World Matchplay, Premier League and World Championship finals, but I'm pretty confident that he'll win a big tournament before he's done.

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