Phil Taylor ‘Hated’ One PDC Rival After Controversial Gesture Sparked Feud

Phil Taylor hated a PDC darts player and embarked one of many feuds following on from a gesture in the 2011 UK Open.

Taylor is the most successful darts player in history with 16 world titles and 87 majors in a dominate three decade run in the sport.

But 'The Power' didn't always get on with those who met on the oche, having rivalries with the likes of Eric Bristow, Adrian Lewis, Dennis Priestley and Raymond van Barneveld.

But he also had issues with another darts star who really riled him up with a number of antics.

Paul Nicholson beat Taylor in the round of 16 in the 2011 UK Open by 9-8 on legs and celebrated the sudden death triumph as though he had won the whole competition. Nicholson then waved Taylor off the stage in a gesture that did not sit well with him.

On Taylor, Nicholson also said that he would "put him to bed". In response, Taylor claimed that Nicholson was "more interested in theatrics than throwing" and branded him "very silly".

Nicholson beat Taylor in the 2011 UK Open. Image: Getty

Reflecting on the controversy years later in an interview with The Darts Show Podcast, Nicholson admitted: "I did think, 'What am I going to do to make this a moment?' and that's what sportspeople do - the Ronaldos, the Tiger Woods - they have moments. That was my moment.

"I told Dave Clark [from Sky Sports ]a lie at the time to keep it politically correct but I did wave him off because I thought, 'I'm going to make this about me'. I waved away from him and then I high-fived someone in the crowd.

"I looked him in the eye and I shook his hand and he hated me, right there and then. I thought, 'You can hate me all you want but I'm the one going through to the quarters.'"

Nicholson's mind games against Taylor

The 2009 World Darts Championship quarter-finalist still has the article from the national newspaper from when Taylor called him disrespectful and infamously mimicked wrestler CM Punk by sitting cross-legged for his walk-on.

It was one of many attempts at mind games that Nicholson used in a bid to outfox Taylor.

Taylor had issues with Nicholson on the oche. Image: Getty

"I think for a small period in 2011 there was some genuine animosity between us," he added.

"It wasn't on my part because I was the one that was beating him. It was two television events that I beat him, I beat him in both by the odd leg.

"He didn't like the fact that I'd beaten him on those two occasions because they were two very costly defeats for him. At the time, he was at his height and was borderline unbeatable.

"Was I that influenced by hate towards him? No. Did I want to take him out? Absolutely. I saw two many players in Players Championship events and TV events, who just felt scared around him.

"He tried every trick to try and beat him, not on the oche because on the oche he was always straight and narrow but beforehand he would try and make eye contact with you, he would try and jab you in the ribs and just tell you a little story beforehand. It was all the stuff that Eric Bristow taught him.

"He couldn't crack me mentally. I think that stuck with him."

'The Asset' faced Taylor again but couldn't quite replicate his success. He was beaten 6-1 in the 2011 Championship League Darts final as well as the World Grand Prix in the same year.

A 10-7 loss against Taylor at the European Championships helped "bury the hatchet".

"What a lot of people don't remember about the match at the Europeans, it was spirited - it was built up to be a grudge match and we didn't play it like that," Nicholson explained.

"We had a really good game and it's unfortunate a lot of that footage has been lost."

In a column in 2023, he called Taylor "by far the best psychological tactician I will ever see”.