Phil (The Power) Taylor STOPT

According to newspaper reports less than 24 hours after picking up his 11th World Title at the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship Phil "The Power" Taylor has decided to reitre from darts to spend more time with his family.
The Power's annoucement came just hours after his epic sudden death win over Kevin "The Artist" Painter and although some say it may be just a knee-jerk reaction to the emotions he went through during the incident packed final Taylor is adament the end has come:

"I feel I reached the pinnacle of my career on Sunday night and I am not getting any younger - I am a grandfather now. Darts is proving to be a young man's game these days.

"The heat on the stage in the final and the length of the matches have really taken it out of me. It means I have to spend virtually the whole year
preparing for the world championships.

"I won 11 championships which I never thought I would do when I first started out in my darts career."

It seems like Phil has come to the decision because has nothing more to achieve in the game that has made him a millionaire and in typical Taylor fashion his last match was perhaps his greatest. Not many times in his career has he had to draw on the qualities that were evident against Painter; his fighting spirit, durability and endurance can never be called in to question.

"It was perhaps the greatest final ever and there were times when I didn't think I was going to do it. I will miss darts because it's been a massive part of my life. I love darts, but I am a down to earth person. For me, family comes before money or anything else in life.

"It's getting harder and harder to prepare for these big tournaments - and anyway, how can it get any better than that final?"

Taylor will not be putting his feet up completely though. He already has his eyes set on a new career using contacts he has built up throughout his life in darts. He is set to combine with his friend Kym Marsh for a charity record for Sportaid and they are hoping to get in touch with Sir Elton John and Gary Barlow.

"One of the things I could do is move into music management. People might laugh but I have a lot of friends who are high profile and successful and it is something I believe I could make a success of."