Thornton wins UK Open
'Power' pays the price for missing his doubles
Scotland's Robert Thornton
shocked Phil Taylor 11-5 in
the final of the Speedy Services UK Open in Bolton
to win his first major title.
The
15-time world champion was attempting to win his fifth UK Open title but he had
no answers to the rampant Scotsman in a one-sided final.
Taylor
led 2-0 in the best-of-21 leg final
but the wheels came off his challenge in the third leg as he missed 10 darts at
a double and Thornton hit double one to get on the board.
The
Stoke veteran steadied the ship to lead 3-2, but from there on it was almost
all one-way traffic.
Thornton hit double top to
break and lead 4-3, then took out 106 to lead 5-3. That quickly became 9-3 as Taylor continued to wobble on the finishes as Thornton took ruthless
advantage.
Taylor did manage to win the 13th leg
but Thornton
continued to hold with ease and at 10-5 he hit a 121 checkout with a bullseye
finish to take the title.
He
also wins £40,000 and a place in the Grand Slam of Darts.
Proud
"I'm
very proud," Thornton
told Sky Sports. "My kids are going to be up jumping all over the place.
"To
just get to the final, I was happy enough. To win it... it's just
unbelievable."
Taylor added: "He caned
me to be honest with you, and I think he deserved it."
Earlier,
Taylor had
wasted little time seeing off Denis Ovens in the semi-finals.
Taylor raced into a 7-0 lead
and although Ovens briefly rallied, he closed out the match 10-2.
Thornton's semi against Dave
Chisnall was a closer affair as the match went with the darts for the first
five legs.
But Thornton moved 5-2 ahead and never looked
likely to be caught, eventually winning 10-4.
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