World champion Phil Taylor secured a Gibraltar double with final wins over Alan Tabern and Mark Dudbridge.
14-time champ powers to Gibraltar double
Phil Taylor continued his ominous start to 2009 by completing a Gibraltar double in the StanJames.com Players Championship on Sunday.
After defeating Alan Tabern to clinch the Eddie Cox Memorial trophy on Saturday, Taylor made it a memorable weekend by toppling Mark Dudbridge the following day.
The 14-time world champion brushed past 'Flash' 6-1 to follow up his 6-2 success over 'The Saint' as he heads into the Players Championship in frightening touch.
'The Power' battled back from 3-1 down to beat Steve Brown in Sunday's first round and further wins over Darren Johnson and Roland Scholten secured a last eight date with Tabern.
Back-to-back 6-3 successes over the St Helens dartist and Robert Thornton ensured a meeting with Dudbridge in the final, and Taylor wasted little time in romping to a comfortable win.
Taylor returned to action for the first time since his Alexandra Palace victory on Saturday, and secured his first title of the weekend on the same day Mark Walsh hit his first tournament nine-darter.
'The Power' won the tournament renamed the Eddie Cox Memorial to commemorate the life of the much-loved PDC official who died just before the World Championship.
Blistering
Despite a short break from the oche, Taylor maintained his World Championship form as he defeated Mick McGowan, Premier League wild card Jelle Klaasen, Andy Smith and Steve Beaton to make the last four.
Colin Osborne provided a stern test in the semi-final, but 'The Wizard' could not quite find the right spell to make Taylor disappear, as the Stoke thrower won 6-5 to make the final.
Left-handed Tabern led 2-1 in the final before Taylor moved up a gear, levelling on tops before taking out two-dart finishes of 97, 88 and 78 to go to the hill.
Taylor sealed the tournament win with a 13-dart leg to make sure he continued his blistering form.
To his credit, St Helens man Tabern did well to reach the final ousting Dudbridge in a close semi-final battle, having already beaten Andy Hamilton and Thornton.
Walsh enjoyed a landmark tournament on 'The Rock', hitting his first competitive nine-darter in the deciding leg of his tense 6-5 victory over Jamie Caven in the first round.
Walshie bagged £1,600 for his perfect leg of darts - which came with the pressure on in the deciding leg of his match.
