DAWN OF A NEW ERROR
DARTS godfather Barry Hearn has told Phil Taylor he is making a “big mistake” by retiring – and warned there will be no short cuts back to the top if he makes a comeback.
Taylor’s decision to quit, at the age of 57, becomes irrevocable on January 2 after he wrote to the Professional Darts Corporation board to renounce his Tour card.
And PDC chairman Hearn says the 16-times world champion will have to take on the bricklayers, lorry drivers and chimney sweeps at Q School in Wigan if he wants to reclaim his place on the circuit.
The Power’s last stand at Alexandra Palace in the William Hill world championship has generated a torrent of tributes – but Hearn fears Taylor has made a wrong turn.
He said: “Phil’s mind is totally made up, but I think he is making a big mistake and I have told him that. There are still two years left in him.
“He is still, in my opinion, in the top four players in the world, which is a huge achievement, and the prize money is going up. My advice to him was, ‘Play less, but peak like you did when you won the World Matchplay.’ But he has resigned his membership of the PDC following this world championship and I just said, ‘I think you are wrong.’
“I managed Phil for 10 years, but when he told me he was going to pack up in 12 months’ time last January, I stopped managing him because I am only involved with active sportsmen.
“Maybe he’s quitting because he’s a bully – in the sense that he likes to beat people up – and whenever a bully goes on the back foot, it’s not the same fight.”
Asked if Taylor would be afforded favourable treatment if he decided to make a comeback in 2019 or beyond, Hearn was adamant. “No, no, no. The funny thing about it is that if he did come back, he would have to go through Q School. He could still play in invitational tournaments like the World Series – the door is still open to that, but he couldn’t play in the Premier League or tournaments open only to Tour card holders.”
Despite a hint of discord about Taylor’s decision, Hearn says his place in the pantheon of British sporting greats is secure.
Good old Baz could sell sandcastles in the desert and ice cubes to eskimos, but Taylor’s record-breaking feats have taken him on an incomparable journey.
Hearn said: “Of the sportsmen who have had the biggest influence on my life, without doubt Steve Davis would be No.1, with Phil Taylor and Chris Eubank in joint second.
“They all dominated their sports but, more importantly, had a work ethic I could associate with and were perfect professionals, perfect preparation, concentration perfect, application perfect. “Where Phil has the advantage over those two is the longevity of his career, which has been staggering. When you talk about people being at the top of their sport, I cannot think of anybody who dominated over three decades.
“Tiger Woods was unbeaten for a period of time, Roger Federer was unbeatable for a time, Davis and Stephen Hendry in snooker, too. Eubank made 19 defences of his world titles over five or 10 years, which is legendary status – but Taylor has gone three times that distance.
“Phil has been an ambassador and standard-bearer for his sport.
“Everyone reaches their sell-by date eventually and Phil has looked in the mirror honestly and said his body cannot take the professional tour schedule we have got now – and at 57, it’s not easy.
“Does he get the recognition he deserves? He came second in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year seven years ago, which is a remarkable achievement for a darts player.
“And darts is the second-highest rated sport on Sky now. It dwarfs everything except big Premier League football games. Taylor is one of the major reasons for that.”