Taylor set to face familiar foes in darts comeback

PHIL TAYLOR is set to reignite his legendary rivalries with Simon Whitlock and Robert Thornton when he makes his shock darts comeback next month.

Former world No1 Taylor is coming out of retirement to team up with Adrian Lewis for England at the MODUS Super Series International Pairs Tournament in Portsmouth.

The tournament runs from November 23 to 28 and features 24 players representing 12 nations.

Taylor, 66, has been drawn back into the same competition as Whitlock and Thornton, two familiar foes from his glittering career.

The Wizard famously faced Taylor in the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship final, only to suffer a 7-3 defeat.

Whitlock will compete alongside his son Mason, 23, who has already hit nine-dart finishes on the MODUS Series and PDC Development Tour.

Thornton memorably beat Taylor 11-5 in the final to lift the 2012 UK Open title.

The two-time major winner will join forces with former World Cup champion John Henderson to represent Scotland.

16-time world champ Taylor and Lewis won four World Cup of Darts titles together between 2012 and 2016.

They will begin their campaign in Group C on Thursday, November 26, against Denmark, Switzerland and three qualifiers from Group A.

Taylor told SunSport: “I’m really looking forward to this. I’ve been practising every day and once you see the full line-up, you realise there are no easy games in this tournament.

“Adrian and I have a lot of history together and we know how to win as a pair, but there are plenty of familiar faces in there, too.

“I’ve played some huge matches against Simon Whitlock and Robert Thornton over the years, so it’ll be good to see them back on the other side of the oche.

“There are also a lot of players I haven’t faced before, which makes it even more interesting.

“I’m coming back because there is no one else I would want to be paired with other than Adrian.”

Defending champions Belgium will be represented by Andy Baetens and Brian Raman.

The Netherlands pairing is Danny van Trijp and Ron Meulenkamp, with Andreas Harrysson and Anton Ostlund representing Sweden.

Denmark’s duo is Ivan Springborg Poulsen and Andreas Toft Jorgensen, while Germany will field Daniel Klose and Liam Maendl-Lawrance.

New Zealand will be represented by Haupai Puha and Jonny Tata, while Ansh Sood and Marcel Walpen will form Switzerland’s team.

The USA will be represented by Fred Krueger and Doug Boehm, with Derek Coulson and Alex Williams completing the Wales line-up.

Image: Taylor Lanning