Early Career
Taylor's first title came in the Canadian Open in 1988 and after reaching the quarter finals of the British Open and the semi finals of the Winmau World Masters in 1989 he had qualified for the World Championships for the first time in 1990. Although he had achieved some success in Open events, he went into the 1990 World Championship as a 125–1 unseeded outsider. He beat number six seed Russell Stewart 3–1 in the first round, Dennis Hickling 3–0 in the second round, Ronnie Sharp 4–2 in the quarter finals and Cliff Lazarenko 5–0 to reach the final, where he met his mentor, Bristow. Bristow had been suffering with dartitis since 1986 but had recovered his world number one ranking to be the top seed in the event. After sharing the first two sets, Taylor beat Bristow 6–1 in sets to claim his first world title. For the rest of 1990, Taylor dominated the Open events taking the titles in Isle of Man, Finland, North America, Denmark plus the British Pentathlon, British Masters, Europe Cup and the game's second major tournament at the time, the Winmau World Masters.
Taylor's defence of the world championship in 1991 ended at the quarter-final stage with a loss to Dennis Priestley, who went on to win his first world title. He picked up fewer titles in 1991 losing both his Danish Open and World Masters titles in finals to Rod Harrington. Taylor regained the world championship the following year, beating Mike Gregory 6–5 in the final. He called the win as the favourite of his career.
Read more about this topic: Phil Taylor (darts Player)
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