Phil ‘The Energy’ Taylor suffered an early exit in his ultimate World Senior Darts Championship look after being crushed 3-2 by Germany’s Manfred Bilderl on the Circus Tavern.
The 16-time world champion, who introduced that 2024 can be his ultimate yr on the seniors circuit, fired three maximums and posted a 83.02 common however struggled along with his ending throughout a disappointing farewell event on the iconic venue.
Taylor battled again from two units all the way down to win the subsequent two and take the competition to a decider, the place Bilderl prevailed to guide a second-round assembly towards Chris Mason.
It was a disappointing finish to Taylor’s legacy at Circus Tavern, the place reached the ultimate in all 14 of the PDC World Darts Championship finals held there and gained 11 of them, with the 63-year-old changing simply eight of his 33 makes an attempt at double throughout his first-round exit.
‘The Energy’ runs out at Circus Tavern
Taylor missed 5 doubles within the opening leg to permit Bilderl to interrupt and watched on as his opponent began with 4 excellent darts to carry throw within the subsequent, with the 63-year-old the damaged once more to lose the primary set in straight legs.
He pinned the D16 to interrupt Bilderl early within the second and at last get a leg on the board, just for the debutant to rattle via the subsequent three legs and transfer right into a two-set benefit.
Taylor responded by breaking Bilderl within the fourth leg of the third to halve the deficit, then took out 86 in a two-dart mixture to seal the fourth set and seemingly seize the momentum.
Bilderl took benefit of Taylor lacking D16 to maneuver inside a leg of victory to take out a 66 end and break, then pinned D10 within the subsequent leg to finish probably the most high-profile win of his profession.
What else occurred?
Mason reached the second spherical by beating Daryl Fitton 3-1 and Richie Burnett beat former world champion Keith Deller by the identical rating, with Martin Adams and Kevin Painter additionally getting via their opening matches.
Reigning champion Robert Thornton opened his title defence with a 3-1 victory over Martyn Turner, whereas Glen Durrant was crushed by Mark Dudbridge in a final-set decider and Lisa Ashton beat Michael Huntley by the identical rating.
The second spherical takes place on Saturday and the quarter-finals are held on Sunday afternoon, forward of the semi-finals and ultimate later that night.
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