Taylor Towers Above Class Field

PDC Tour Card holder Dom Taylor added his name to an illustrious list of names to walk away as champion of the Plymouth Open after a dramatic 4-3 success over two time winner from Plymouth, John Mann.

The event has been reborn this year at the magnificent Legends Lounge darting facility in Brunel View, St Budeaux after COVID curtailed the previous edition held at Porters between 2014 and 2019.

Taylor's blistering run through the one hundred plus player field to the last eight money stages saw him dispatch Harry McFerran before blowing away a selection of Plymouth darting royalty.

Dale Halford lost out to 'The Tower' in the Last 64 stage before Taylor's wins against Andy Bates and 2018 Plymouth Champion of Champions Neil White in the last 16 gave him at least £125 for his day's work.

Laying in wait for the Bristolian thrower was fellow PDC professional and world number 38 Martin Lukeman who won board number 3 fairly comfortably.

Antony Reed, Jason Goldsmith, Tom Wilson and Lewis Dare, who himself competes on the second tier of the PDC circuit, the Challenge Tour, were all victims of the imperious Lukeman.

Taylor however belied his lower PDC ranking to better Lukeman and setup a semi final showdown with Plymouth's only previous PDC Tour Card holder, Simon Stevenson.

Stevenson, who won this event in 2014, netted wins against former Devon teammates Shaun Dring and Billy Evans before ending the hopes of Lee Hunter who had a run to the last 32.

Lee Rodmell narrowly missed out on a last 8 place after 'The Mirror Man' ended his excellent charge before Stevenson met former ADC South West title belt holder, Ricky Palmer, in the quarters.

The six time former Champion of Champions Stevenson had his road to glory and the big prize blocked by Taylor who booked his place in the final and left Stevenson with a consolation prize of £250.

The other half of the draw was dominated by players local to the Plymouth area as Nathan Langdon, Lee Hellings and Kieran Burns all joined Mann in gaining prize money from the gruelling event.

Burns first ended the hopes of James Hughes in round one before John Rising and Liskeard based former England youth international became Burns' most notable scalp of the day.

Cornwall county youth starlet Lewis Hunter had his excellent day finished by Burns before Burns himself ran out of steam in the quarter final stage by Mann.

Hellings found the form that has earned him a spot in a talented Cornwall county A team this season, but still fell short with a run to the semis.

Hellings dominated board eight with wins against Gary Clarke, Scott Hutchinson and Cherry Tree teammate Dave Lee before a last 16 showdown with Ellis Radford awaited.

Radford, who in 2023 competed on the PDC Development Tour, didn't have enough in the tank to deal with the might of Hellings.

Hellings last 8 opponent, Nathan Langdon, defeated Glenn Austin in his last 128 game before taking a remarkable victory against Ryan Palmer.

The Bristol based Palmer himself is a former PDC Tour Card holder having won a card in 2016 but didn't have enough on the day to get the better of Langdon.

Langdon then went on to end Sean Taylor and Kev Marshall's tilts at the title before Hellings setup a last four battle with Mann that unfortunately saw Hellings disappointed.

After an eight hour marathon of darting action, two were left to play out for a lion's share of £1500 left in the £2500 prize pool.

A 180 left Taylor stunned in the first leg as Mann broke to take a 1-0 lead before the man that's consistently won prize money on the PDC tour this season roared back with a 110 checkout to finish in 15 darts.

A 14 darter was quickly followed by a leg in 13 as the 26 year old showed why he's is amongst the elite professional stars but the champion of 2016 and 2017 wasn't ready to give up on a third crown just yet.

After Taylor missed two darts at an 89 checkout to win the first prize, Mann checked in 18 darts to break the throw and leave him trailing by a score line of 3-2.

The PDC ranked number 85 again had chances in the sixth leg with more darts squandered at the double 16 and double 8 segments with Mann left back on 140.

Remarkably however, Mann managed to bust 140 meaning Taylor had three more chances at 16 to give him the spoils of the day.

Taylor's finish line jitters continued for two more throws before Mann took the game to a final leg shootout, in which Taylor had the throw.

That fact proved to be crucial in the decider as both players missed darts at the championship before Taylor's double 18 gave him the £1000 prize money, denying Plymouth's 'Pilgrim' a trio of Plymouth Open titles.

Credit has to go to the staff and owners of the Brunel View who had built themselves a world class darts venue in Legends Lounge; backing it with the financial incentives to attract the very best players.

Knitting the whole thing together was tournament directors Sean and Kelly Burkitt, as well as a team of volunteers, who put on quite a show and did the competition and Plymouth incredibly proud.

The success of the event can be measured by the fact that Lukeman took the time to write on Facebook: "Thank you for a smashing day! Well run competition and highly recommend, great people and great venue!"