Four years ago, Phil Taylor admitted to not being the player he once was, but today it is difficult to imagine how much better he can become. Back then, at the age of 44, there were other players enjoying their encounters with him, taking him to the edge and pushing him over with sheer delight. The wheels were starting to come off the Taylor juggernaut. He had already taken darts to a higher level than Eric Bristow and John Lowe, two of his most notable predecessors.

In any other sport, 14 world titles, including his first triumph in 1990, would be considered incredible. But because the the feat has been achieved in darts, some turn up their noses. It may be snobbery based on the debate about darts as a sport yet throwing to such a high level of accuracy over so many years has to be applauded.

Fans rightly laud the achievements of Lance Armstrong, the cyclist who won seven consecutive Tours de France races 1999, and Pete Sampras, the tennis player who lifted 14 grand slam titles. Even Stephen Hendry’s seven world snooker titles are treated as beyond belief since no one thought that any player would ever beat Steve Davis’s modern-era record of six. Ed Moses won 122 consecutive races in the 400 metres hurdles and Jahangir Khan was simply unbeatable over more than 500 squash matches.

Yet probably none has dominated a sport for as lengthy a period as Taylor. In rowing, the achievements of Steve Redgrave, who won gold medals at five successive Olympics, and Matthew Pinsent, who did so in four successive Games, earned recognition from the public and both were knighted. Taylor was due to be appointed MBE in 2001 but the honour was withdrawn after a conviction, and £2,000 fine, for an indecent assault that the judge said was at the bottom end of the scale. He denied the charge.

Darts is a test of nerve, when your margin for error is only millimetres. Mental and physical demands are great. Taylor knows this and spends hours in the gym each week. He has shed substantial weight and become more focused with shorter practice sessions on the oche. But, above all, he has regained his love for winning.

Taylor, his own toughest critic, changed his darts to a set that his wife, Yvonne, was using, and has won 44 consecutive matches since March. Taylor is a millionaire, but not interested in money. “I don’t know how much I have in my bank account to the nearest £100,000,” he said. He has set the goals of reaching a three-dart average of 120 and a fifteenth world title. No one would bet against him.

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