15/09/09
Photo courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC.
Phil Taylor began the 2010 Championship League Darts with victory in Group One, defeating Colin Lloyd 6-2 in the final of the internet-streamed tournament.
Taylor, the 2008 champion who was the runner-up in last year's Championship League Darts, booked his place in October's big-money Winners Group and claimed £3,100 prize money for his day's work at Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex.
The world number one finished second in the round-robin league phase as the eight players battled it out over best of 11 leg games, with Robert Thornton and Mervyn King defeating him with 6-4 scorelines.
Taylor - who twice missed double 12 for a nine-darter during the day - recovered to win his final three matches, dropping only six legs in the process, before defeating Simon Whitlock 6-1 in the semis and Lloyd 6-2 in the final.
Taylor, who also defeated Lloyd in the Group One final in 2008, made a fine start to lead 2-0 before Lloyd got off the mark on double five in the third.
A 64 finish in the fourth was followed by maximums in the next three legs as he moved 5-1 up.
Lloyd matched his 180 on his way to the seventh, but another maximum from Taylor left him 44 in the next, and double 16 secured his win.
Lloyd, who picked up £2,300 on the day, returns for Group Two on Wednesday having followed up Sunday's Players Championship win with a strong display.
He won his opening three matches on the day and finished fourth in the league phase before seeing off King 6-2 in the semis.
King won his first six games, but a defeat to Whitlock in his final game was followed by a play-off defeat as he ran out of steam, although £2,150 prize money softened the blow.
Whitlock, on his Championship League Darts debut, finished third in the league table with five wins from his seven games, while Adrian Lewis and James Wade avoided elimination from the tournament.
That duo defeated Mark Walsh and Robert Thornton in the final round of games to knock that duo out of the competition, with Ronnie Baxter, Gary Anderson and Paul Nicholson coming in for Wednesday's Group Three.
Championship League Darts is screened solely on the internet via 16 bookmakers' websites and to PDCtv subscribers at the PDC's official website, www.pdc.tv.
The eight players compete for £50 per leg won in the group phase before prize money increases to £100 per leg in the play-offs, with a place in the Winners Group on offer for the day's champion.
Group One Results
| Board One | Board Two |
| Phil Taylor 6-2 James Wade | Colin Lloyd 6-4 Robert Thornton |
| Simon Whitlock 6-1 Mark Walsh | Mervyn King 6-5 Adrian Lewis |
| Robert Thornton 6-4 Phil Taylor | Mark Walsh 3-6 Mervyn King |
| Adrian Lewis 6-3 Simon Whitlock | James Wade 5-6 Colin Lloyd |
| Robert Thornton 2-6 Mervyn King | Phil Taylor 6-5 Mark Walsh |
| Adrian Lewis 0-6 Colin Lloyd | James Wade 0-6 Simon Whitlock |
| Mervyn King 6-4 Phil Taylor | Robert Thornton 1-6 Mark Walsh |
| James Wade 6-3 Adrian Lewis | Colin Lloyd 2-6 Simon Whitlock |
| Colin Lloyd 3-6 Mervyn King | Simon Whitlock 2-6 Phil Taylor |
| Mark Walsh 5-6 James Wade | Adrian Lewis 6-1 Robert Thornton |
| Simon Whitlock 6-5 Rober! t Thornton | James Wade 4-6 Mervyn King |
| Mark Walsh 3-6 Colin Lloyd | Phil Taylor 6-3 Adrian Lewis |
| Colin Lloyd 1-6 Phil Taylor | Mervyn King 3-6 Simon Whitlock |
| Adrian Lewis 6-5 Mark Walsh | Robert Thornton 3-6 James Wade |
| Semi-Finals | |
| Mervyn King 2-6 Colin Lloyd | Phil Taylor 6-1 Simon Whitlock |
| Final | |
| Colin Lloyd 2-6 Phil Taylor |
Group One League Table
| Pl | W | L | Won | Lost | Leg +/- | £Won | Pts | |
| Mervyn King | 7 | 6 | 1 | 39 | 27 | +12 | £1950 | 12 |
| Phil Taylor | 7 | 5 | 2 | 38 | 25 | +13 | £1900 | 10 |
| Simon Whitlock | 7 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 23 | +12 | £1750 | 10 |
| Colin Lloyd | 7 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 30 | 0 | £1500 | 8 |
| Adrian Lewis | 7 | 3 | 4 | 29 | 33 | -4 | £1450 | 6 |
| James Wade | 7 | 3 | 4 | 29 | 35 | -6 | £1450 | 6 |
| Mark Walsh | 7 | 1 | 6 | 28 | 37 | -9 | £1400 | 2 |
| Robert Thornton | 7 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 40 | -18 | £1100 | 2 |
Group One Prize Money
| Phil Taylor | £3,200 |
| Colin Lloyd | £2,300 |
| Mervyn King | £2,150 |
| Simon Whitlock | £1,850 |
| Adrian Lewis | £1,450 |
| James Wade | £1,450 |
| Mark Walsh | £1,400 |
| Robert Thornton | £1,100 |