5 SWEET 16 PHIL TAYLOR 7-4 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2013

IT would prove to be the last of Phil Taylor’s remarkable 16 world titles – although the ‘The Power’ would reach two more before the curtain fell.

And although Van Gerwen came up short in his first world championship final at the age of 23, he served ample notice on the darts world of a superstar in the making.

Twice, at 2-0 and 4-2, the Dutchman opened up a two-set advantage, only for Taylor to close the gap and eventually douse MVG’s fire by taking the chequered flag on the back of five sets without reply.

Taylor became the first man to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy (right) just five months after the death of the bard of darts – whose puns, pathos and peerless one-liners made him a commentary box legend.

“It weighed half a ton,” he said, admiring the Eritrean marble base which turned the victory ceremony into a cardiovascular ordeal as much as a tickertape procession. “But I tell you what – winning never felt so good .”

Seldom, at any elite level of sport, has a 52-year-old conquered the world, and Taylor’s longevity – 23 years between his first world title and his last – is unlikely to be repeated in any sport.

For meaningful comparison, Lester Pigott was 47 when he rode the last of his nine Derby winners in 1983.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he landed the last of his 18 golf Majors in 1986.

And Sir Geoffrey Boycott’s last Test century for England fell two months shy of his 41st birthday.

Taylor’s mentor, the late Eric Bristow, was so chuffed by the Stoke stunner’s eclipse of Van Gerwen that he planted a kiss on his forehead with the words: “You little beauty – I had £50 on you to win 7-4.”