Phil Taylor to quit PDC darts at the end of the year

Sixteen-time world darts champion Phil Taylor will leave the PDC tour after the 2018 World Championships.

The 56-year-old has spent more than 20 years on the circuit, winning his first of 14 PDC world titles in 1995 and his first of two under BDO five years prior. It is not yet certain whether he plans to step away from the sport altogether, with the BBC reporting that he may still be open to competing in Premier League darts. "At the end of the year, that's me done. The World Championship will be my last one," Taylor said, as per a PDC report.

"It's harder for me to get motivated and keep the practising up like I've done for 30 years. It's hard to be dedicated week-in and week-out and that's what's taken its toll on me. "I'll always be involved in darts anyway. I've had 30 years of being top of the tree. You've got Michael van Gerwen who's going to take over, and embrace him and let him be the new ambassador."

Taylor's haul of 14 PDC world titles is a record for the organisation, and the last of the 14 arrived in 2013. Since then, his best finish arrived in the most recent edition of the World Championships, when he reached the quarter-finals before suffering a hard-fought defeat to Raymond van Barneveld.