After tragic year, Taylor is ready to reclaim his throne

IT’S been three years since Phil Taylor was last crowned King at Alexandra Palace, but the 16-time world champion feels better prepared than ever to power to another title.

Taylor begins his campaign against either Keita Ono or Alex Tagarao tonight, after two weeks of rest and practice following a tough year both on and off the stage.

He arrived at Alexandra Palace as world No 3 and having not won a major televised ranking event this season. And just weeks after his defeat in the World Championship final against Gary Anderson last year, Taylor suffered a far bigger loss when his mother Elizabeth died after a lung infection. Taylor, 55, said: ‘I lost my mum this year, the biggest thing in my life and I haven’t got over it yet. It was horrible.

‘Her death hasn’t sunk in yet. It doesn’t seem right that she is not with me anymore. It’s not been my best year but I’m OK. I’m still earning good money. My preparation is a lot better this year. I had two weeks off and I have not had that for a long time.

‘I would like to win it for the people who come out and spend their money to support me and have a gamble on me, but mainly for myself really. I just want to prove I can do it again.’ In yesterday’s afternoon session, meanwhile, there was an embarrassing moment for Chinese qualifier Qiang Sun.

In the first leg of his preliminary round match against Mick McGowan, a nervous Sun aimed for treble 19 but missed the board completely, his wayward dart ending up six inches below his target.

The 45-year-old only won one leg but became a favourite with the fans, who let out a huge cheer when he checked out 48 in the second set.

Sun said: ‘ I started playing darts 17 years ago and it was my dream to play here. I am disappointed I didn’t perform. I am a better player than that but I was so nervous. I could not relax.’