Real drama follows Desert Classic victory by ‘The Power’ (UPDATED)

By Rob Miech

Sunday, July 5, 2009 | 3:40 p.m.

It wasn’t an epic affair, but Phil “The Power” Taylor’s 13-11 victory over Raymond van Barneveld still had its thrilling moments.

When it ended, however, the real drama started when Taylor fumed about van Barneveld’s performance. Or, to put it more accurately, the indifference that “Barney” showed during the final.

Van Barneveld, from the Netherlands, had just broken Taylor’s shot to take a 7-6 lead when Taylor, a Brit, turned the trick on Barney, winning on van Barneveld’s first shot to take control again, at 8-7.

That started a slide of five lost legs in a row for Barney, and Taylor – and a crowd of nearly 1,000 and a live Sky Sports feed to the U.K. – believe they saw van Barneveld give less than his full effort.

“I’ve never played him when he’s done that,” Taylor said. “I’ve seen him do that on TV to people. I’ve seen him throw legs away to concentrate on the next leg, because it’s your dart. That happens.

“But he seemed to give up. It was weird. He didn’t seem interested in the final anymore. I thought I did something to upset him. I was inquisitive of what was going on. I said to him, ‘What’s the matter with you?’

“He said, ‘I couldn’t keep up with it.’ It seemed to break his spirit a bit.”

In the players’ lounge afterward, van Barneveld sat, nearly inconsolable, at a table with his second-place trophy. Shortly afterward, he left.

A friend apologized for Barney’s behavior to a tournament official. Van Barneveld’s wife hugged Taylor and apologized to him, his wife Yvonne and son Chris.

It was a curious cap to a tournament that the 48-year-old Taylor started with a dodgy lower back, which he sustained a few weeks ago riding a bicycle on the property of his new home in Cheshire, England.

That stiffness played a role in Ronnie Baxter’s victory over Taylor in the one-day Las Vegas Players Championship title match Tuesday.

At that time, Taylor said, in talking about his best assets, that one of the things he does best is “not listen to the crap,” as far as rumors or stories that might circulate about him among peers or in the papers.

In the next 48 hours, while he shot practice darts in the players’ lounge, a few bold players talked about Taylor’s back possibly being a weakness this week.

“I think a lot of them don’t say it in front of me,” Taylor said. “They’ll say it behind my back. It’s one way, I suppose, that they build their confidence up. If they think there’s a chink in your armor, they’ll take advantage of it.

“Fair enough. I don’t blame them. But as the week went on, I got stronger. You know what? They all talk about me, but they all want to beat me. Ain’t that weird?”

Thanks to Las Vegas, Taylor’s back received some invaluable balm. First of all, it’s been triple-digit heat all week. That’ll loosen up tightness in any back.

“And during the week, we did a lot of walking,” Taylor said. “In Vegas, even going to dinner, you do a mile’s walk. It’s OK now. It’s a bit stiff, but nothing like before when I first came out."

Taylor left Las Vegas with his fifth Desert Classic trophy and $50,000, but he would have felt much better had he done it against a foe who had never let down.

2:49 p.m.

Before a nearly packed house of 1,000 fans, Taylor just defeated van Barneveld, 13-11, by closing out the match with 104 points -- a triple 20, 4 and double 20.

A large pack of The Power's fans chanted "There's only one ... Phil Taylor!" after the match. Taylor had an 11-7 lead before Barney won four of five legs to make it quite interesting.

"There's only one Phil Taylor," van Barneveld said. "But I promise you, I'll be back."

2:34 p.m.

Taylor took advantage of multiple mistakes by van Barneveld to win five consecutive legs and snake an 11-7 lead, but Barney stormed back for two legs to cut his deficit to 11-9 at another break.

2:22 p.m.

The Power has an 8-7 advantage after the second break but needed the last two to take the lead as van Barneveld is capitalizing on Taylor's many mistakes.

2:04 p.m.

Taylor eked out to a 3-0 lead, after he missed a double 4 to close out the third leg but van Barneveld failed to close it out with a double 18. Taylor came in with the hammer.

Then Barney got within 3-2 at the first break by ending the fourth leg with a bull's-eye and the fifth with another bull's-eye. The drama is about to get rich.

Out of the break, Barney won three consecutive legs to go up 5-3. During the seventh leg, Taylor had a 109 average. But the tide had changed by then in a big way.

Then it changed right back as Taylor won the ninth and 10th legs to tie it, 5-5. In the 10 th, van Barneveld could have taken a healthy lead by closing out with a double 8, but it missed by a hair to the right. Taylor finished with a double 16.

If the air-card reception doesn’t improve soon here, I’m gonna want a meeting with the clown that designed Mandalay Bay.

1:38 p.m.

Taylor ripped out a 13-darter to win the first game of the best-of-25 legs finale. "He has to play at his very, very, very best," a Sky Sports commentator said of Barney. Eric Bristow, who dominated the game in the 1980s, predicted a 13-8 victory by Taylor.

1:32 p.m.

The dream final pits two players who didn’t get to play each other for years, because Raymond van Barneveld competed in the British Darts Organization.

Taylor has been a mainstay in the Professional Darts Corporation.

When “Barney” jumped to the PDC, the duo first locked up in a Premier League Darts tournament. It ended 7-7. Taylor won the return leg.

Taylor has a 28-9 lifetime edge on Barney, but one of those victories by Barney is considered by many to be the greatest game of darts in the history of the sport.

In the final of the PDC World Championship at Circus Tavern, Taylor took a 3-0 lead but Barney rebounded to win, 7-6.

Taylor’s Desert Classic championship last year was his fourth. Barney won this event in 2007.

This finale will be a best-of-25-leg showdown.

Game on.

1:04 p.m.

Raymond van Barneveld said he has a chance against Phil "The Power" Taylor in the final. Taylor, a 4-5 favorite to win this tournament before it started, has a 2-1 edge against Barney in major finals matches.

"Why not I can't win?" said the Dutch van Barneveld in broken English. "Phil has to play his best darts to beat me. Why not? I believe in myself. Of course."

Sky Sports commentators called it a "dream final" between the Nos. 1 and 3 players in the PDC's Order of Merit.

"I was depressed not to make the Premier League final, but you have to go on and start believing in yourself," van Barneveld said. "I think I've done pretty well this week."

Jelle Klaasen just walked in the players' lounge and said he hopes to make many returns to Las Vegas. Look for him to reach the latter stages of the Desert Classic soon. Like Barney, he's from the Netherlands. But he's neutral about the final.

"The best player will win," Klaasen said.

12:50 p.m.

Raymond van Barneveld just dispatched James Wade, 11-6, taking a 12-11 edge in their lifetime series. John Part, who was smashed by Phil Taylor in an earlier semifinal, just left the building, too. But before going he said, "Just too much pressure today. Scoring never came."

And at 12:48 p.m., Taylor took the first of his practice throws to prep for his championship showdown with van Barneveld.

Wade and Part made about $16,200 for reaching the semifinals.

12:37 p.m.

Watching Raymond van Barneveld perform water torture on James Wade, I recalled a funny incident from Saturday’s competition.

”Barney” had just won a quarterfinal and was on the Sky Sports feed in the players’ lounge adjacent to the main stage ballroom. Phil Taylor has just finished warming up and was being escorted by two security officials to the arena.

As Taylor walked by the flat-screen feed from Sky, on which Barney was going on and on during a post-match interview, Taylor coolly said “Shut up, Barney” without missing a step.

Maybe half a dozen people laughed as Taylor, in what would be a tense moment for most, acted as if it were just another game in a pub league.

It’s 12:36 p.m., and Taylor still hasn’t tossed one practice dart in what surely looks like a grand finale against Barney. Wade just cut his deficit to 9-4.

12:27 p.m.

Raymond van Barneveld is starting to ease away from James Wade. “Barney” leads, 7-3, so start making plays for a showdown between The Power and Barney in the grand finale.

Phil Taylor, at this moment, is setting backstage, chatting with John Part, whom The Power just belted in one semifinal, a friend, wife Yvonne and son Chris. They are sitting at a table near the practice throwing range.

12:12 p.m.

We've just received word that Barry Hearn, who owns and runs the Professional Darts Corporation, has been bored silly at his home in the village of East Hanningfield in Essex, England.

Hearn, who also owns the middle-division Leyton Orient football ("soccer" to Yanks) club, damaged a knee playing cricket last weekend and was unable to attend the Desert Classic. With his knee raised on a couch, he's been watching both Sky Sports replays of the day's action all week.

He rings one of his officials at least three times a day, during the live action, for the latest news and updates.

Cheers, Barry.

Oh, Raymond van Barneveld just tied lefty James Wade, 2-2.

Noon

In a ruthless display, Phil Taylor vanquished John Part, 11-1, in the first semifinal of the day. He averaged about 108 and nailed 11 triple 20s. Ouch.

”It’s not as easy as everyone thinks, to get up here and perform,” Talor said. “It’s hard work. (But) John wasn’t doing what John can do.”

For what it’s worth, Taylor is 28-9 against Raymond van Barneveld, one of the other two semifinalists, and 13-3 vs. James Wade. “Barney” and Wade now duel for the right to get in Taylor’s way for the Desert Classic championship and $50,000.

”I am actually excited to go back stage and watch this one,” Taylor said.

11:39 a.m.

Did we say how this first semifinal is turning into a blitzkrieg by Phil “The Power” Taylor?

John Part finally threw a triple 20 in the seventh leg. A minute later, Taylor zapped his seventh of the game. Taylor won seven of the first eight legs and was on course to break the 116 average he recorded three months ago.

Taylor just took an 8-1 lead. Nobody has ever needed a break in the action like Part will after the 10th leg.

11:27 a.m.

At the first break after five legs, Phil Taylor has a 4-1 edge over John Part. It's a whitewash, as Taylor, at one point, had an average of 121. During warmups, someone sauntered by Taylor and asked how many triple 20s he had fired. Forty, he said. Then he threw three darts and said, "Make that 41."

11:18 a.m.

Phil “The Power” Taylor opened the first semifinal by drilling triple 20s on his first two throws. Think he isn’t ready to add another crown to the already stuffed trophy case in his new home in Cheshire, England?

He won the first leg of his best-of-21 match against John “Darth Maple” Part, and Taylor no doubt will make it a difficult one for Part.

We will bring you more comprehensive, up-to-the-second coverage today, and we thank the many readers who have sent in comments from the U.K.

Drop us a line, if you can, during this blog coverage, and we’ll try to answer any questions you might have about today or the entire Desert Classic.

Taylor has just taken a 2-1 advantage as we file this report. We'll break news of today's two semifinals and finale as it takes place. Cheers>