POWER PLAY
Taylor heads elite field in darts series
HE’S the best darts player the world has seen and now Phil “The Power” Taylor is coming to the Gold Coast.
Taylor, who has dominated darts for the past 30 years, winning a record 16 world titles and 16 world matchplay crowns, will be the main attraction in the inaugural Pro Darts Showdown Series coming to Queensland in January.
The three other venues are Brisbane, Townsville and Mackay.
The Coast leg is on January 17-18 at the Gold Coast Events Centre at Gold Coast Turf Club and the tickets across the two nights go on sale on Monday.
The 57-year-old Taylor, who recently won the Melbourne Masters at a packedout Hisense Arena, which was covered on Fox Sports, is one of eight of the best darts players in the world who will take on the top darting talent in Australia in the first domestic series of its kind to be held outside the major metro areas.
Event promoter Gold Coast Bulletin, in association with Dart Players Australia, has also secured Australian No.1 and former world championship runner-up Simon “The Wizard” Whitlock, Australian No.2 and newly crowned Auckland Masters champion Kyle “The Original” Anderson with former world championship runner-up, Britain’s Andy Hamilton (The Hammer), also taking part.
Darts is a major spectator event, with thousands filling halls around the world to see Taylor and his colleagues. Many dress in costume and embrace the boozy darts culture.
As well as darts’ own “battle for the Ashes” in the regions, there will be an international flavour to the Pro Darts Showdown, with South African No.1 Devon Peterson and America’s best player John Kuzcynski also headed for the Sunshine State.
Scotland’s Jamie Harvey, a former world championship semi-finalist, will also take part with Aussie darting legend Russell Stewart set to show all the talents which won him seven Australian Grand Mas- ters and five Australian Masters crowns.
Those eight players take on eight of the best players in Australia as the Pro Darts Showdown moves around Queensland in January.
The showdown begins in Brisbane at the RNA Convention Centre on January 10-11 and also heads to Townsville Stadium on January 24-25 before finishing off at the Mackay Entertainment Centre on January 27-28.
Taylor loves coming Down Under and cannot wait to return in the new year and hit regional Queensland, even though he is officially retiring from the sport after this year’s world championships.
“I love it over here in Australia, the crowds are brilliant and I love every minute of it,” he said. “I’ve not got many tournaments left in me, so I want to win as many as I can before I call it a day.
“I’m so proud to see the sport growing in this part of the world. I’ve been lucky enough to see it all over the years, but we never believed it would get this big.”
Tickets go on sale at Ticketek on Monday from 10am with further details at www.prodartsshowdownseries.com.au.
I LOVE IT OVER HERE IN AUSTRALIA, THE CROWDS ARE BRILLIANT AND I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT PHIL TAYLOR