But is he the best ever in the sport?

Taylor won his 10th World Darts Championship title in style, inflicting a 7-0 whitewash on Peter Manley on Saturday.

The Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex, erupted when Taylor wrapped up the sixth set 3-2 to seal a historic victory.

Taylor's nerves of steel and impeccable finishing - in a campaign which saw him drop only four legs - helped him secure the �50,000 top prize.

Taylor has benefited from coaching from darts great Eric Bristow - but is the Crafty Cockney's protege the best darts player ever?

Why so few women in darts? Phil Taylor is great but John Part will always be my favourite
Sally Giesecke, South Africa

Phil Taylor is absolutely and without doubt the best darts player ever to walk the earth. If you look at Taylor's averages then you can see he far outranks any other darts player in the world. Taylor v Barneveld was a walkover and I would put money on him doing the same to any player from the Embassy tournament!
Damien, England

As a darts fan for 20 years, I must admit Phil Taylor is one hell of a player. But many people have said that Taylor averages and checkouts are much higher that anyone else including the BDO guys. But could Phil Taylor do that at the Lakeside when the pressure and competition is immensely higher. I mean most of the professional darts players can do nine darts checkout in practice but come to the Embassy its a whole different ball game. Taylor can only prove himself by coming back to the Embassy.
Richard, UK

I think that Phil is the best there is no doubt - even when he is not playing to his full potential he can still win! Phil you are the best! He says he wants to win 13 I say what about 15? He can go on, go on, go on, go on and on and on etc.
Rhona Connor, England

Just how many Embassy champions and Finalists does "The Power" have to stuff 6-0 or 7-0 before people respect him as the best? The Embassy Champion is lucky as they get the title without having to face the best there is.
Martin Warrington, England

Phil Taylor has now won the world title 10 times, (with a peak average of 111 and a top check-out rate of 68% along the way), yet there are still people arguing if he is the best or not. Oh come on! With darts the answers are there in black and white, you can't argue with the mathematical statistics. So come on all you "He must return to the Embassy to prove himself" people, just admit it, there is no one and has never been anyone to match Phil Taylor's brilliance. You're starting to sound worse than Peter "Bad-sport" Manley.
Jason, UK

Bristow in his time was untouchable but Taylor has taken darts to another level just as Hendry did to snooker. I also think that everybody involved with darts should get together and we should have just one World Championship. Taylor would then prove to everyone that he is the greatest of all time.
Chris Higginbottom, England

Those who claim Phil Taylor isn't the best darts player ever are living in some strange alternative universe. Over the last 12 years Taylor has consistently played the best players in the world and won 10 world titles. Those who claim he should go back to the Embassy to prove his greatness don't seem to realise that the BDO no longer has the best players in the world.

Even if Taylor were to return to the Embassy he would dominate without question, probably winning without dropping a set. No one in the world has the scoring power, the clinical finishing and iron nerve of "The Power". Magic darts!
Chris, England

Look at Taylor and compare him to the rest of the field and it becomes patently obvious that nobody in either competition can touch him at the moment.

His scoring and finishing has maintained a phenomenal standard over the years, leaving it patently obvious to all but the most hardened BDO supporter that he's the king of the arrows.
Dan Whittle, England

Taylor's scoring averages and checkout stats speak for themselves. Add to the fact that the PDC matches were longer, over seven, 11 and 13 sets. Ten years ago a player averaging 92..92 could win, but today that does not give you any chance.

Those watching the Embassy should get real and accept Taylor as the ulimate..the next yard stick for the newer generation of darts players.
M Stroud, York, UK.

I've been watching darts for 15 years and without a shadow of a doubt Taylor is in a league of his own.There is nobody else who scores so accurately and finishes so clinically over a long match.

I'm sure the bookies would have him strong odds on to come out on top in a joint BDO/PDC field. The stats speak for themselves!
Umesh Bhagwan, Ireland

Cometh the hour, cometh the power! He is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be - he truly is the excellence of execution and should win sports personality of the year at least twice before he becomes obsessed with making darts into a recognised olympic sport and he and Eric Bristow die.
Will, Wales

The evidence supporting Taylor to be the greatest is beyond question. He has won the PDC tournament eight times in a row, a tournament which has recently been swelled with some of the best players from the Embassy - and they can't get near him.

He pummelled Barneveld in the summit match. He has never ducked a player or challenge and beat them all comprehensively. What does the man have to do to convince the doubters!
Simon, UK

Phil Taylor is the most dominant sports personality in Britain. People forget that he has played Barneveld, Adams etc in other tournaments and destroyed them. He won two Embassy titles in three years and would have won eight more if the split had not happened.

Just look at his averages - no-one is anywhere near what he achieves. I hope that Walton wins the Embassy again this year so we can have another head to head. Taylor will dominate him in exactly the same way he destroys everyone else.
Jim Chatterton, USA

Of course Phil Taylor is the best darts player ever, nobody in the PDC can touch him and as for the BDO (boring darts organisation) Embassy championship, that is rubbish apart from four or five who are too scared to come to the PDC. Long live the PDC. The BDO is dying a slow death.
Gordon Webb, England

Yes he's the best, but Taylor v Bristow (at his peak) would have been a helluva match. Bristow may be the only guy with the game and persona to out-psych the Power.
Paul, England

Barney may have lost that 'summit meeting' to Phil Talyor. But that was a once off timed match in legs. I mean, Phil Talyor has lost to Embassy guys like Markus Korhonen who beat him in the Swedish open. Many people have said that former champions like Burnett, Part, Beaton and Priestly have left to the PDC. The operative words being 'former champions'.

They never retained the Embassy title before leaving to the PDC. The only way Talyor can prove himself the greatest of all time, is to come back to the Embassy and win that like has the PDC. Then yes, but at the moment he is only the best of the PDC and not the WORLD!
Alan Roy, UK

Mr Taylor is an excellent darter but it is a shame there is no one to give him a real game. He has dominated darts as Ali, Tyson did in their era for boxing.
Bill Lodge, Hamilton Ontario

It seems to me that when that so called '10 times' world champion quits, the PDC would be just a world championship for players who are past their peak and know they can no longer compete in the BDO. Taylor prove me wrong and come back to the Embassy.
Kev, UK

In my opinion, Bristlow remains the best ever. If you reach the final of the Embassy so many times and win five times, you're a legend. However, Taylor's number one at the moment, because even excellent players like Walton, Adams, Hankley and Van Barneveld aren't able to beat him.
Rogier van Nierop, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Taylor is just an above average player who benefits from the dearth of talent around at the moment. If he had played against the likes of Bristow or Lowe at their peak, then he would have been soundly thrashed.
Andy Barsby, UK

Taylor is easily the best and the only people who say he isn't obviously don't know what they're talking about. The PDC is the REAL World Championship with former Embassy winners like Burnett, Part, Beeton playing in the PDC event and others like Mason and Baxter. And can someone remind me how well these players did in the PDC this year? Oh yes, none of them reached the semi-finals.

So if Taylor ever returned to play in the Embassy Championship it would be even a bigger walkover for him. There are only about five decent players in the Embassy, and as Bristow said, he has never heard of half the players playing in it. So I believe these part time followers need to get some of their facts straight before ever doubting the quality of "The Power".
Tadhg Rohan, Ireland

Of course Phil Taylor is the best ever. People should remember that all the legends like Bristow, Lowe, Anderson, Deller, Wilson, Priestley etc. joined the PDC. Also many of the best of the Embassy players in recent years like Burnett, Scholten, Baxter, Part, Beeton now play in the PDC world championships and Phil Taylor thrashes them all.

After Barneveld's second Embassy title he had a summit meeting with Taylor and got absolutely thrashed. It's the Embassy champion who isn't a true world champion because they know they can't compete with Taylor.
Alex, England

Though I am not a darts addict in any sense, I find myself glued to the screen each year to watch the Embassy Championships unfold. Can somebody tell me why Phil Taylor seems to be playing and winning some other "world" competition every year rather than the Embassy?
Kev, UK

A lot of people say that Taylor has to prove himself by winning the Embassy again; he did that years ago and has only got better. He is definitely the best darts player ever and he doesn't need to prove that.
Hamish, England

No! Phil Taylor can only be classed as the best of all time when he come back to the home of darts, the Embassy. If he can win the Embassy then yes, but not at this very moment. I would be very interested in how he would do in a match against the likes of Walton, Fordham, Barney, Adams, Pusa and co. Taylor if you want to be the best, then play against the best.
Derrick Wilmer, UK

Bristow won those five titles when the ALL the best darts players in the world played under one tournament. That PDC championship is like the WBU title in boxing terms. It does not mean a thing. If Taylor comes back to the Embassy and wins it like he has with the PDC, then I would class him as the best of all time. But at the moment, no way!
Ryan Davies, UK

Phil Taylor is incredible with two Embassy world titles and eight PDC world titles. But can you really call the PDC titles real World Championships? I feel that Bristow's five Embassy World titles are equal to Taylor's 10 'world' titles. This is because when Bristow won his titles, all the best darts player around the globe played in one World Championship. But how can you call yourself the 'world champion' when half of the best darts players in the world are playing in the Embassy?
Tyrone Smith, UK

Anybody who questions Phil Taylor's greatness forgets that he won two Embassys in three years in the early 1990s. What about that stunning final against Mike Gregory when he pulled something extra special out the fire when he looked like losing in 1992. And he also dismantled Eric Bristow 6-1 in the final in 1990. Two examples of greatness which were achieved at a time when the field was at its strongest.

However, the Embassy is the real world championship, star players or not, and Eric won his five at an era when there was the likes of John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Jocky Wilson, Keith Deller, Cliff Lazarenko and a host of accomplished great darts players all at their prime at the same time at Frimley.

Taylor has to come back to the Embassy to prove himself as great as Bristow. Bristow is still ahead of Taylor just now as the greatest ever, but Taylor winning the Embassy three more times would turn it clearly in Taylor's favour.
David, Scotland

I lived in London in the Crafty Cockney's days, and thought he was the greatest, but Taylor has taken darts to another level. Let's hope he can keep up the good work.
Arthur Smith, Australia

Anyone who can get 101 in six darts or less has my vote!
John Simpson, UK

Phil 'The Power' Taylor is probably one of the greatest because he shows no emotion when losing, and always recovers well.
Sean, England

No, Taylor is second best. The Crafty Cockney will always be the greatest.
Andy James, USA

In my view the eight 'world' titles that Taylor has won cannot truly be called world titles. This is because some of the best darts players in the world are playing in the BDO. In my view, if Phil Taylor wants to cement his place as the best darts player of all time, he must come back to the Embassy, so that the wider viewing audience can take a look at him playing against the likes of Walton, Barnelveld, Mervyn King and Martin Adams.
Gavin Peacock, UK

The best? Unquestionably. As a lifelong fan of sport in general, I cannot think of anyone who has dominated their sport as Phil Taylor has - 10 world titles including eight consecutively.
Derek Bentall, Crawley, England

Not just the best darts players ever, but one of Britain's most underrated sportsmen. Taylor's success has pushed the standards higher, and when 'The Power' calls it quits, the standard he leaves behind will be like Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry left behind in snooker. Watching Taylor is poetry. He looks almost effortless on the oche, and truly is the real world champion in darts.
Richard, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

There is no question, the man dominates all that he plays. Any other sport in the country and he would have the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.
Daniel Shires, England

Anyone who can win an eighth consecutive title with such ease is incredible. In winning this title he dropped just two sets whilst winning 29. His 111+ average in the second round was just awesome. Has anyone else come remotely close in terms of darts average, consecutive titles, margins of victory or simply producing it when it really matters?
Mark, Germany

Phil Taylor is without a doubt the greatest darts player ever. The way he destroyed Peter Manley was unbelievable. He's better than Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Jocky Wilson, Raymond Barneveld and anyone else you can think of. Taylor has won 10 world titles, while Bristow has won just five. I wish Taylor could compete in the Embassy just once more, so he could show everybody just how good he is. Sadly though, I can't see that happening.
Rhys Stephens, UK

What can you say, other than the man's a genius? By far the best darts player to ever play the game. To be honest, it's nice to watch a more competitive championship without his genius on the BBC.
Matthew Wegner, England, North London