Adrian Lewis: I’d back Taylor to beat Littler
Two-time world champion Adrian Lewis has told Double Tops sponsored by BetMGM that he’d back Phil Taylor to beat Luke Littler.
Speaking on Double Tops sponsored by BetMGM, a new weekly podcast centred on the BetMGM Premier League Darts season, Lewis said: “He had a few tactics to beat his opponent before they stepped onto the oche, but in all honesty he was so good it wouldn’t have mattered.
“If you put him against the current crop now, he’d still win everything.
“Everyone says the game is so much better now, but look at the averages and they’re actually lower than what they were 10-15 years ago. Phil was so consistent and would still be the one to beat if he was still playing.
“Luke [Littler] is an amazing player but I’d still back Phil to beat him without a shadow of a doubt.
“When I played him in the Grand Slam semi-final, I was averaging 117 and I was 9-8 down – what else can you do?! I was basically hitting two 180s a leg and losing.”
Taylor the master of mind games and pranks
Lewis continued on Taylor and recounted the games he used to play away from the oche, including one time on a plane to Australia.
“He was the master of the mind games and there wasn’t much he didn’t do to us behind the scenes,” Lewis said.
“You’d go to the toilet, come back and your dart case would be missing. He loved playing childish pranks like that just to wind everyone up.
“We were flying to Australia in business class and he kept flicking these nuts at me. I turned to him and said, ‘if one more nut touches me you’re having the bowl over you!’
“Anyway, he stopped and quite soon after his agent, Bob Glenn, started snoring. He stopped quite quickly and I looked around and Phil had put two nuts up his nostrils.
“That’s the sort of thing he’d do – we’d have so many laughs together.”
Coming back to be a three-time world champion
Lewis has taken a break from darts since 2023, but confirmed he’s ready to return and is targeting a third World Championship title.
Lewis added: “The aim is to make a comeback. Over the last 14 months, I’ve lost three-and-a-half stone by walking more, eating better and staying away from the booze.
“I need to be fighting fit when I do return to the tour and I want to enjoy it. I feel ready now. After 20 years I think I just needed a break and I’m ready to enjoy it again. I don’t care about the money; it’s all about the trophies for me.
“On the exhibition circuit I’m still very competitive and I beat plenty of the Premier League players regularly, so the ability is still there, I’d like to think.
“If I was playing well enough, I don’t think I could say no to the Premier League again but the real reason I’m coming back is to become a three-time world champion.”
The latest episode of Double Tops sponsored by BetMGM can be viewed here. New episodes are available every Wednesday at 5pm.
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