Phil Taylor Had One Televised Match Against Women's Darts Star
Phil Taylor took on Deta Hedman in what was his only televised match against a women's darts player.
The pair faced off at the 2022 Seniors World Matchplay, with Taylor having retired from the PDC circuit at the end of the 2018 World Championship.
The first four legs each saw a break of throw, before Taylor took out 32 to go 3-2 ahead.
Both players traded blows with each other up until Taylor went 5-3 ahead and begun to take control.
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He won the final two legs to win 8-4, ending on an average of 75 compared to Hedman's 70.
While the numbers were comfortably lower than both players would have been capable of, it was the opposite outcome from their meeting 12 years earlier at an exhibition event.
Taylor, the 14-time PDC world champion competed in an series of challenge matches against eight local players when opening a new darts centre in Cowley.
Unsurprisingly, 'The Power' had little difficulty in fending off most of his amateur opponents, but came unstuck against Oxfordshire-based Hedman.
Then 50 years of age, Hedman hit 162 and a 140 on her way to producing an upset against the PDC world number one.
Hedman, who was born in Jamaica, made history at the 2005 UK Open when she became the first women's darts player to defeat a male player at a televised major event.
She won two matches on her way to the last 64 and, at the age of 62, finally competed in the PDC World Championship in 2021.
Hedman was one of the first breakout stars of women's darts alongside Trina Gulliver, with Lisa Ashton later following them.
Ashton won a two-year PDC tour card in 2021 and, although she didn't enjoy significant success afterwards, was the first woman to be a full-time member of the PDC.
In the same year, Fallon Sherrock reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts, having recorded wins over Mike De Decker, Gabriel Clemens and Mensur Suljovic.
She won two matches at the 2019 World Championship, becoming the first women's player to do so and immediately becoming one of the most well-known names in darts.
Now, it is Beau Greaves who is taking most of the headlines, having won her last 58 consecutive matches in the PDC Women's Series.
She finished as runner-up in the PDC's Development Tour this season, qualifying her for a two-year main Tour Card for 2026-2027.
At 21, she is already the most successful player in women's darts history, and many seasoned fans of the sport have long been aware of just how talented she is.
Taylor is also tipping the Doncaster-born player to achieve big things, telling The Sun in 2022: "Do I think a lady will win it [the World Championship]? Yes, I think it will probably happen. Maybe not yet, but one day.
"Beau Greaves is setting the standard. If she can hit 108, 109 averages on the floor and transfer those numbers to the stage, she could win it.
"It would be so good for darts if Beau or Fallon had a good run."
Topics: Darts
Ryan Smart