Taylor Targeting Five More Years

PHIL TAYLOR admitted he is determined to continue to pick up titles for the next five years after picking up an eighth Stan James World Matchplay championship on Saturday.

Taylor's love affair with the Winter Gardens continued with an 18-11 win over James Wade to see the Stoke genius regain the coveted trophy.

The 13-time World Champion, though, is refusing to rest on his laurels and hopes to capture plenty more silverware before hanging up his darts.

"I think now I am more ambitious than ever," he said. "Because your time is limited so you have got to make the most of it.

"You don't want to be a professional for ever, I will want to spend time with my wife and family one day and enjoy what I've done, so for the next four or five years it's head down, backside up and get stuck in.

"Over the next four or five years I'll be dangerous!"

After losses to Raymond van Barneveld in the Budweiser UK Open and Las Vegas Desert Classic, Taylor admitted that victory in Blackpool was crucial for him - and a driving factor on his way to the title.

"It's the tournament I was after this year," he added. "It's a massive tournament for me, the best venue and second only to the World Championship.

"With it being a short format, I don't come out of the blocks as quickly now but that's something I have to go back and work on.

"In the practice room I've been superb, hitting 180s practically every other throw, but on stage it hasn't been quite as I planned.

"But I'll keep practising and try and make myself better."

Taylor was impressed by the emergence of 23-year-old Wade as a genuine talent on the big stage as the Aldershot player reached his first major final.

"He's going to be a cracking player," added Taylor.

"He's done well this week but he's made a name for himself and the pressure's going to be on him a little bit so he has got to dig in and be more professional than he has been before.

The future's great for him, if he can stick to it. He has a few bob in his pocket now and that can be a downfall for players in sport, and my advice now is to celebrate this week, put the money in the bank and get stuck in to the next event.

"In other sports you can see young players with money in their pocket, and they can enjoy it too much."

Wade, along with Taylor's practice partner Adrian Lewis and Blackpool's own Wes Newton, is one of a breed of young players making their way in the sport.

And Taylor conceded: "They are great, they come in and the beauty is they don't fear anybody.

"You can have all these titles but they couldn't care less, thet just get stuck in and it's brilliant.

"I admire them; I don't class it as being big-headed, it's cockiness and that helps you. You have to have self-belief."

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