Phil Taylor defeats Michael van Gerwen to claim inaugural Sydney Darts Masters victory

PHIL Taylor overcame a hostile crowd to prove why he is the best player the darts world has ever seen and claim the Sydney Masters at Luna Park.

PHIL Taylor overcame a hostile crowd to prove why he is the best player the darts world has ever seen, powering to victory in the inaugural Sydney Masters at Luna Park.

Up against home favourite Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals on Saturday night, the 16-time world champion brushed aside the jeers from the parochial crowd to dominate the Australian, opening up a 4-1 lead before eventually securing a comfortable 10-6 win against the world No. 4.

The 53-year-old Taylor was in unstoppable touch, producing an even stronger performance to crush world No. 2  Michael van Gerwen 10-3 in a one-sided final.

Dutch star van Gerwen had earlier held off Adrian Lewis 10-7 in their semi-final clash, but was unable to lift the tournament decider to any great heights.

The immensely popular Taylor would rarely have had to contend with a crowd like the one he experienced under the Luna Park Big Top, who were desperate to cheer Whitlock to victory.

But the Australian appeared to buckle under the high expectations and could not find his groove, failing to threaten Taylor at any point in their final-four clash.

"Phil got ahead of me early on in the semi-final and I left myself too much to do,” Whitlock admitted. "I'm proud to have got this far, though, and it's been an amazing week for me and for darts in Australia. It's a great moment for us to have such a big event here in Sydney and hopefully this is just the start of massive things for the sport in Australia."

Taylor said he felt comfortable Saturday despite the crowd being against him and was “absolutely delighted” with the tournament victory.

"I think Michael's semi-final took a lot out of him because it was a tough match and he took out some unbelievable finishes. He's a fantastic player and I knew I had to get on top of him straight away in the final, which I did,” Taylor said.

"It's been fantastic to come to Sydney and not just play well but to win this title. I'm trying to push the standard up and it will improve the game, and people will see unbelievable darts in the future.

"The future's certainly bright in Australia because the crowds were fantastic, the players who qualified did well and Simon Whitlock was superb throughout the week."

Van Gerwen added: “Phil played well in the final and deserved to win. I'm disappointed because I wasn't able to repeat my form of the semi-finals but it's been a great tournament."