Taylor ready to bounce back against Lewis in Bournemouth

Phil Taylor bounced back from his 7-0 humiliation at the hands of Michael van Gerwen by beating Stoke rival Adrian Lewis at a UK Open qualifier in Wigan.

The Power hit two nine dart finishes on his way to a 6-2 win firing out a warning to Lewis, who he meets in week two of the Premier League in Bournemouth.

The victory was perfect preparation for the space 16-time world champion after MVG took just 13-and-a-half minutes and 96 darts to complete the biggest thrashing of the 53-year-old’s career.

And after the defeat Ladbrokes priced The Power at odds of 10/1 to retire in 2014 but that seems premature after his victory over Jackpot.

The bookmaker also had the legendary dartist on at 500/1 to lose every Premier League match in 2014 and 7/1 to be whitewashed again in the tournament, while it is 5/2 that the Power does not make the semi-finals.

And with the Taylor in decline theme in mind, Ladbrokes go 25/1 for him to be relegated from the competition.

A lack of match practice with his new darts and a weight loss theory put forward by ex-player and Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle was blamed for the world no. 2’s dramatic defeat in Liverpool last week.

But seven days on and with a victory over Lewis in the bank, the old Taylor could be ready to bounce back.

The Englishman is on at evens to get back to winning ways this week with Lewis 13/8 to inflict a second straight defeat on the most successful player the game has ever seen, while the draw is 7/2.

But with Taylor in nine dart form the 5/1 on a nine dart finish to be thrown in week two could be a shrewd bet, with odds of 14/1 available for it to be thrown in Taylor’s match with Lewis.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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