‘I played Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor – I know who the better darts player is’

Phil Taylor is widely revered as the greatest of all time - but not by Dimitri van den Bergh.

Taylor, 64, has finally walked away from the oche after a spectacular 35-year career. While he retired from professional darts in 2018, he returned to the sport to play on the senior tour in 2022.

He was set to depart for good after the World Seniors' Masters, but pain in a recently operated-on hip has forced him to bring down the curtain on his career earlier than expected. The Power retires with more than 214 professional darts titles to his name.

His record of 16 world championship victories is widely believed to be unassailable. Yet, despite the fact the Nottingham native has won 13 more, Van den Bergh believes Michael van Gerwen is the greatest of all time.

When asked to pick who he thinks is the best to ever play darts, the Belgian said in 2023: "I still go for MvG. His highest averages are higher than Phil Taylor's. On that basis I would go for him. It's all about the stats.

"I know that Phil has achieved the most World Championship wins but MvG can average 105 or 110 when he needs to. Even a 125 average. Incredible."

Despite Van den Bergh's unique perspective, many will find it hard to concur. After all, Van Gerwen has only clinched three world titles in his career, a far cry from Taylor's 16.

Ironically, Taylor has also been asked if he feels Mighty Mike was the mightiest to ever play darts. His view was emphatic. When asked in 2020, he said: "Don't get me wrong: He is a fantastic talent, a flamboyant player, and who knows what he could go on to achieve?

"But the world's greatest player of all time? He's not even the greatest player to come out of Holland - Barney (Raymond van Barneveld) has still won more world championships than him. And so has Eric [Bristow], God rest his soul."

Taylor announced the ending of his career in a recent interview with Online Darts. He said: "I'm struggling a bit with my hip. Scar tissue. Everything was going fine, but then I just did a little too much and apparently I've torn my scar tissue. So yeah, it's a bit painful.

"It's been the worst pain I've ever had these last twelve months. Honestly, I'll be glad when this year is gone. Practicing, I've been okay, but when you've been playing for a few hours there's this really bad pain in the hip. It's like having toothache and it drives me crazy, it really does."