Phil Taylor has opened up about his struggle with arthritis aged 63 years old.
Darts legend Phil Taylor revealed he has been diagnosed with arthritis and is currently experiencing ‘nightmare’ symptoms. Taylor is widely regarded as the greatest darts player of all time, having won a whopping 16 world championships during his stint as a professional.
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor has remained active in the darts scene following his retirement, with the Stoke-on-Trent-born star competing in various senior competitions. Taylor had recently announced his intention to step away from the sport altogether following the conclusion of the World Senior Darts tour at the end of the year.
But now, to make matters worse for Taylor, he has also disclosed his struggles with arthritis. A condition that affects the joints and connective tissues around the body, on his diagnosis Taylor told Online Darts: “I’m doing everything that I can, because I have arthritis in my hip. I cannot turn right, so I’m not throwing straight. I don’t know why, my darts are going over in the fives.
“I’ve had to sit and think about it. So, hopefully in the next month I can shed a bit more weight get rid of this pain. It’s a nightmare. It’s seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Even if you turn over in bed at night, you’re in pain.”
He later added: “That match killed my leg, it killed my back, it killed everything,” he said soon after leaving the venue. “It’s awful when you’re up there and you have people cheering you on.
“The crowd came back and were really noisy, the atmosphere was fantastic during my match. It was great to be a part of it. But to lose was terrible. I hated going out like that.”
Taylor had originally retired from professional darts in 2018, with his final PDC appearance coming in the World Darts Championships final against debutant Rob Cross. Had ‘The Power’ beaten Cross at the Alexandra Palace, it would’ve marked a record-extending 17th World Championship title, but instead, the icon of the sport finished up with a not-too-shabby 16.
He also boasts the record for the most major title victories in the sport’s history too, having won an astonishing 85 during his three-decade-long career and in 2015, Taylor was named among the top 10 best sportsmen of the last 35 years by the BBC. Whenever Taylor puts down his arrows for the final time, he’ll have built a legacy in darts that is unlikely to be toppled anytime soon.