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Taylor perfect in Bolton

Image: Taylor: cost sponsors dear

Phil Taylor hit an incredible fourth nine-darter in the Blue Square UK Open on Saturday afternoon.

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Phil Taylor hit an incredible fourth nine-darter in the Blue Square UK Open on Saturday afternoon. Taylor achieved the feat - with a 180 followed by a 177 and a 144 checkout, finishing on double 12 - during a 9-1 win over Jamie Harvey in the fourth round of the tournament at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton. In emulating his previous nine-darters in 2004, 2005 and 2007, Taylor earned himself a £25,000 bonus from the PDC - should no other player match the nine-darter during the remainder of the event and grab a share. He revealed that he almost hit a nine-darter in practice earlier on Saturday - missing the double 12 which he later landed to send the 1,000-strong Bolton crowd wild. "I said in practice that I could go close today and I almost had one in the practice room," he said. "I missed double 12 by a mile, but luckily I got it when I was on stage.

Relaxed

"I was relaxed and enjoying the game, I was 7-1 up at the time so there wasn't a lot of pressure on me and that's the best time for it. "I'm delighted to have done another nine-darter, it's easy to do them in practice but doing it in a game is another thing." Taylor's nine-darter, the sixth in a televised competition during his unparalleled career, also cost tournament sponsors Blue Square a £50,000 payout, having offered to refund all losing Outright Tournament bets should the achievement be landed in Bolton. Taylor will return in the last 16 on Saturday evening and added: "I have to keep my focus and not get carried away now. "The nine-darter's great but it doesn't win me the tournament, I still have to win four more games!"

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