TAYLOR SCOOPS PDC AWARDS QUARTET
PHIL TAYLOR scooped four awards at the Professional Darts Corporation^s Annual Awards Dinner on Monday night, including the prestigious Player of the Year title.
Taylor capped an incredible 12 months of success by winning a 15th World Championship title at the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship on Sunday, defeating Simon Whitlock 7-3 in the final.
He followed up that by being named as the PDC^s Player of the Year for a second successive year at the Annual Awards Dinner held at The Dorchester Hotel in London.
Taylor was also voted by his rivals as the Players^ Player of the Year, and recognised by voters on the PDC^s official website, www.pdc.tv, as the Fans’ Player of the Year.
The Stoke legend was also recognised for his success during 2009 on the PDC Pro Tour, where he won 12 tournaments and £79,500 prize money, with the PDC Pro Tour Player of the Year award.
Whitlock^s run to the final of the World Championship, and his qualification for last summer^s Las Vegas Desert Classic, with the Best Newcomer award, given to the player who has made the greatest impact since joining the PDC and PDPA inside the last 12 months.
Whitlock was also named as the first Sky Sports Wildcard for the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts on the evening, meaning he will compete with the sport^s elite players in this year^s event, which begins on February 11 at The O2 in London.
Mervyn King^s brilliant display to end Taylor^s reign as the Premier League Darts champion at the semi-final stage last May was named as the Televised Performance of the Year.
And 24-year-old Adrian Lewis, who won two Players Championships, hit a nine-darter and reached the quarter-finals in the stanjames.com World Matchplay, Skybet World Grand Prix and Ladbrokes.com World Championship as named as Young Player of the Year.
Lewis was also amongst ten players rewarded for nine-darters on the PDC Pro Tour with silver pin badges as members of the PDC^s Nine-Dart Club, while televised perfect legs rewarded with a gold pin badge were given to Taylor, Jelle Klaasen (both Championship League Darts), Mervyn King (Virgin Atlantic South African Masters) and Raymond van Barneveld (Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship).
The PDC also inducted two new members into its Hall of Fame, recognising the contributions made by Tournament Director Tommy Cox and Event Director Dick Allix since the organisation was founded in 1993.
AWARD WINNERS
PDC Hall of Fame: Dick Allix (PDC Event Director) & Tommy Cox (PDC Tournament Director)
Best PDC Pro Tour Player: Phil Taylor
PDC Televised Performance of the Year: Mervyn King (v Phil Taylor, Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts Semi-Final)
PDC Best Newcomer: Simon Whitlock
Fans^ Player of the Year: Phil Taylor
PDPA Players^ Player of the Year: Phil Taylor
Nine-Dart Club:
Silver Pin Badges (non-televised)
Mark Walsh - Players Championship, Gibraltar
Mervyn King - Players Championship, Coventry
Raymond van Barneveld - UK Open West Midlands Regional Final, Coventry
Vincent van der Voort - Players Championship, Nuland
Gary Anderson - Players Championship, Derby
Colin Monk - Players Championship, Barnsley
Andy Smith - Players Championship, Dinslaken
Larry Butler - Las Vegas Players Championship
Wes Newton - Las Vegas Players Championship
Adrian Lewis - Austrian Open Players Championship
Gold Pin Badges (televised)
Phil Taylor - Championship League Darts
Jelle Klaasen - Championship League Darts
Mervyn King - South African Masters
Raymond van Barneveld – World Championship
PDC Young Player of the Year: Adrian Lewis
PDC Player of the Year: Phil Taylor