Phil Taylor is looking forward to some peace and quiet in his ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match against Mikuru Suzuki tomorrow.
Taylor takes on the BDO champion in a best-of-seven game of Soft Tip darts game from his own home in Stoke, with Suzuki almost 10,000km away in Shikoku, Japan.
The 16-time Champion of the World says there’s every chance he could be beaten by the talented 38-year-old, but at least he won’t have to content with thousands of fans booing him throughout the contest.
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“It will be a lot nicer playing on the soft-tip in my living room,” Taylor told Paddy Power News. “Because when you play a lady player on stage you get booed. Trust me, it’s so difficult.
“Everybody in the room bar your loved ones is booing you. They want the lady player to win. You have to really concentrate.”
He added: “Mikuru called me the God of Darts – well that’s a nice compliment. But I won’t take any notice. I mean I feel as old as God.
“Mikuru is brilliant. She is good as gold with a great sense of humour. She is a hell of a player and I wouldn’t bet against her beating me on the soft-tip board. I’ll be up against it tomorrow that’s for sure.”
Suzuki and PDC World Championship hero Fallon Sherrock dominated the headlines late last year.
But veteran Taylor can remember back to his early days when he regularly lost to England ladies captain Maureen Flowers at the Foaming Quart pub in his native Stoke.
“Maureen, when she was in her heyday, used to bash the men,” he said.
“In her dad’s pub, she used to play winner-stays-on, and she was brilliant. She used to wipe the floor with everybody.
“When you wanted to practice and see how good you were, you nipped down there and have a game. She used to mark the board if she got beat and play all-comers.
“Now I think you’ll get loads of girls out there practising now and believing they can beat people.
“I’ve practised with Fallon when we have done exhibition work and she is a lot better player than what you see on TV.
“She can finish – anything around the 80, 90 and 100 finishes. If she has one dart at a double, she normally hits it.”
- It’s PDC vs BDO, man against woman, Stoke facing up to Shikoku! The clash will be available to view on ours and Target Darts’ social media channels – and broadcast on Sky Sports – from 7pm on Thursday 7th May.