Phil Teaylor’s incredible darts career ended in a humbling defeat at the hands of PDC World Championship rookie Rob Cross on New Year’s Day.
Twenty-seven-year-old Cross finished off a stunning Alexandra Palace debut campaign to beat ‘The Power’ 7-2 and scoop a grand prize of £400,000.
Monday’s final was played at a rapid, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace. But if you did blink, don’t worry because Sportsmail’s ROBERT SUMMERSCALES has rounded up eight things that may have escaped your attention.
Phil Taylor’s darts career ended in defeat as Rob Cross beat him in Monday Ally Pally final
Taylor flips middle finger
After winning the fourth set, Taylor had a bit of fun with one of his friends in the crowd.
As he was walking off for a brief break, he flipped up his middle finger.
Taylor cheekily raised his middle finger at a friend in the crowd after he won the fourth set
Cross needed more bottle
Cross looked unflappable on the oche, but a brief fit of nerves may have been responsible for him breaking a glass during the second set.
The 27-year-old missed the table after having a drink and looked rather embarrassed after the noise of his glass falling interrupted Taylor’s visit.
Cross dropped a glass of water on the floor early on while Taylor last attempting a 132 finish
Taylor turned around after throwing his first dart to see what had happened behind him
The 57-year-old reacted with a smile, while Cross looked a little embarrassed by his blunder
Walk-on Karaoke
As darts MC John McDonald introduced Taylor for the final time using his familiar syllable-elongating script, fans inside the sold-out Ally Pally did his job for him.
They joined McDonald in announcing: ‘It’s time to meet the record-breaking, history-making, 16-time champion of the woooorld. It’s Phil, ‘The Poooower’ Taylor!’
Fans recited John McDonald’s familiar script as the MC introduced Taylor before the match
Taylor poses for selfie and autograph during walk-on
Taylor looked very relaxed during his final walk-on as he signed an autograph after posing for a selfie.
The picture took a while to capture as Taylor appeared to struggle to work a female fan’s iPhone.
Taylor signed an autograph during his walk-on as the 16-time champion appeared relaxed
The Stoke icon posed for a selfie using a female fan’s iPhone, which seemed to confuse him
120 on the floor
Cross recorded a brilliant three-dart average of XXX, but it would have been even higher had he not suffered an early double bounce-out.
He landed his first dart sweetly in the centre of the 60 bed, but it blocked his next two throws, causing him to miss out on a further 120 points.
Cross responded brilliantly, though, hitting a maximum with his next visit.
Cross found the centre of the treble 20 bed in the second leg but his next two darts hit the floor
Twenty-seven-year-old Cross bent down to pick up his two stray darts which had bounced out
Team Germany are Team Taylor
German footballers Toni Kroos and Lukas Podolski both threw their support behind Taylor on Twitter.
Real Madrid midfielder Kross wrote: ‘One last time. Taylor wonderland! Come on Phil.’
Former Arsenal forward Podolski added: ‘Come on #philtaylor’.
Friendly Phil
Despite having a huge match to prepare for, Taylor found time to give old pal and fellow darts icon Bobby George a call on New Year’s Day.
The gesture clearly meant a lot to George, who was in hospital after a health scare.
George wrote on Twitter: ‘Lovely jubbly! No clot showing on my lung scan, so it’s a case of more antibiotics to clear the chest infection.
‘Waiting to be discharged from hospital, hopefully in time to get home and watch the final. Thanks to @PhilTaylor giving me a bell to check on me, today of all days!’
Unsuccessful stare-down
Trailing 2-0 in sets, Taylor seemingly tried to get into his opponent’s head by staring at Cross as he walked back from the oche.
It didn’t work as Cross refused to engage in eye contact before continuing his dominant display.
Taylor appeared to try to get into the head of Cross with a stare-down but it was unsuccessful