Phil Taylor is coming out of retirement after two years as huge Adrian Lewis pairing announced

Phil Taylor is ending his near two-year retirement from competitive darts to play in the MODUS Super Series, with Adrian Lewis named as his partner.

Taylor, who stepped away from competitive darts at the end of 2024, will team up with Lewis to play in the MODUS Super Series International Pairs tournament.

The competition will take place between November 23-28 at the MODUS Super Series studio in Portsmouth, with the action available to watch exclusively live on Pluto TV.

Taylor has not played since competing at the 2024 World Seniors Championship.

Lewis - who, like Taylor, is from Stoke-on-Trent - has been largely playing exhibitions since his initial return to darts last year. He is currently in a multi-year management contract with MODUS Sports Management.

Taylor, a 16-time PDC world champion, has known two-time champion Lewis since the latter emerged onto the darting circuit as a teenager, and was his mentor and practice partner during his early years on tour.

Why Phil Taylor is returning to competitive darts - and why Adrian Lewis is teaming with him

'The Power', who turned 66 in August, says Lewis is the only player he would ever come out of retirement to play alongside.

"It's just the offer and something to do, plus playing with Aidy as well. Anyone else, I probably wouldn't have bothered," Taylor told SPORTbible. "But playing with Aidy, it'll be good fun.

"I didn't even have a set of darts before I'd done this, but I'm enjoying it. I've been practicing a little bit. Normally I'll be practicing every day."

"When I first asked about it, I thought, 'Yeah...'," Lewis admits. "With Phil? I said, 'Yeah, definitely'. I wasn't really interested in playing if it wasn't for Phil. So here we are. We're going to have a good time, aren't we?"

"You're bloody right we are," Taylor replied.

Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis will team up in MODUS (Image: MODUS Super Series)

Lewis has been on what is essentially a staggered return to darts, having stepped away from competition in April 2023 to spend more time with his family.

He still keeps in touch with and competes against the top players on the PDC circuit, such as Luke Humphries and Nathan Aspinall - "I always turn him [Aspinall] over every week, he hates playing me for some reason" - and believes he can win big matches if he does return to the competitive stage.

"I think it's the same as anything once you haven't done it for a while," he says. "Panic starts setting in a bit. But after a couple, you soon get over it.

"Jason [Thame, director of MODUS Sports Management] has proper helped me out, because I wasn't doing loads of exhibitions. All the exhibitions I was doing were basically what I've done throughout my career for the same people. And then Jason starts putting on big shows, and then I was involved in all that and just really enjoyed it."

For now, then, MODUS is Lewis' darting home, with Taylor having been involved in the events - which were born out of playing online darts in the COVID-19 lockdown - as a pundit.

"MODUS is brilliant," Taylor says. "It's great for players. They're making a good little living for themselves, and they're also getting good match practice.

"With this sport, you need money, obviously. You know, when I was on the circuit, it was at least £10,000 a month travelling, and hotels, and stuff. So, you do need to earn money to carry on with your career."

Lewis agrees: "You set some aside and, obviously, if you're on the main tour, the money... well, £10,000 really was a stopping at Premier Inns kind of thing. Stopping at the top hotels, you'd probably be talking £20,000 to £30,000 per month."

"It's a great stepping stone for them," Taylor says. "If you can play good players and get paid for it as well... so they're getting down there, they're getting used to playing in front of a crowd, which is an extra bonus, and getting paid for it."

Lewis points to the success that MODUS players have had on the Challenge Tour, with some even competing in the latter stages of Players Championship events on the PDC Pro Tour. Multiple MODUS event winner Henry Coates, who doesn't have a Tour Card, won PC26 in July.

'That's the only difference...' - Taylor and Lewis on Luke Littler dominance

So what of this year's World Championship? Reigning two-time world champion Luke Littler is the hot favourite to win it again, given his stunning form throughout 2026.

Taylor thinks that only three or four players can win the title instead of him. "Nathan Aspinall seems to have a bit of a booty on young Luke. Luke Humphries can play. There's a few good players, but they just haven't got in them to beat him at the minute. He's got the eebie-jeebies on them and they need to step up and work out what to do."

"The thing is, he's losing the odd match on the floor tournaments," Lewis adds. "But as soon as he gets on a stage in the Europeans, or a major, the players are falling like that against him. They've lost before they've even got on there."

"I see good players," Taylor says. "[Gian] Van Veen's a good player. Chris Dobey's a good, steady scorer. The only thing with Chris Dobey is his finishing now and again. Gerwyn Price, he's another player who can handle himself, finish well. It all depends on the finishing.

"With young Luke, because he's putting the pressure on them, there's missing doubles, they're missing finishes. That's the only difference."

By the time the action gets underway at Alexandra Palace in December, Taylor and Lewis will be hoping to have another trophy on their mantlepiece.

"We'll definitely be ready," Taylor states. "It might take us a couple of legs to settle in, but I think we'll have a good run. I'm really looking forward to it."

He even wants his old rival Raymond van Barneveld to join him in MODUS. "I've called him, I've had a good chat with him and he's going to give it a last go [on the PDC], I think. Come and play for MODUS. He'd be great in the pairs."