Taylor thrived on the electric atmosphere in Alexandra Palace

World number one Phil Taylor crushed Raymond van Barneveld 7-1 in the PDC World Championship final to claim his 14th world title on Sunday.

The 48-year-old from Stoke was in imperious form and despite a wobble in the fourth set, a repeat of the classic final in 2007 rarely looked likely.

Van Barneveld lost the opening two sets and although he came close to making it 2-2, Taylor was always in control.

"I feel absolutely fantastic," Taylor said. "I thought it was a great game."

Taylor, who last won the title in 2006, added: "I'm sorry for Raymond but one of us had to lose and I'm glad it wasn't me."

The talk before the match was Van Barneveld's sensational 7-6 victory over Taylor after being 3-0 down in the final two years ago.

But a crammed Alexandra Palace in London had to settle for an almost faultless display as the world number one destroyed the world number two.

606: DEBATE Barney played very well tonight, but Phil wanted this so much and that possibly was the difference kentsaint

Van Barneveld began the match looking like a man still recovering from his 10-set semi-final win against James Wade and Taylor cruised to take the opening two sets.

The Dutchman did not even have one throw at a double in the first set.

Memories of the 2007 clash came flooding back in the fourth set when Van Barneveld had a hatful of chances to level the match but Taylor snatched it.

Van Barneveld never gave up fighting and despite winning the first two legs of the fifth - the second on a bullseye - Taylor came roaring back to win three legs in-a-row to take a 4-1 lead.

With both players averaging over one hundred it was a surprise to see them both struggle to hit the doubles in a scrappy sixth set won by Taylor, but the lapse did not last for long.

Taylor was relentless and quickly wrapped up the final two sets to finish with a record-breaking average of 109.76 in a PDC final.

Van Barneveld paid tribute to his opponent after the match and said: "I played a computer. He's absolutely brilliant.

"All my congratulations to Phil. Practising 10 hours a day is not enough. But I'll be back."

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