Over the course of his 30-year professional darts career, Phil Taylor saw just about everything.
But there was little he could do to prepare for an unruly fan in the early stages of the 2012 UK Open final.
The best of Britain and Ireland along with nearly 20 international stars converged on the then-named Reebok Stadium – home of Bolton Wanderers Football Club – in June 2012 to compete for the £200,000 prize fund, with the winner to net a cool £40,000.
Taylor, who had 15 world titles to his name at the time, was a heavy favourite to take out what would have been his fifth UK Open.
So it wasn’t exactly a surprise to see Taylor reach the final as he swept past Roland Scholten, Colin Osborne, Ronnie Baxter, Terry Jenkins and Denis Ovens.
He would face Scotland’s Robert Thornton, who was ranked outside of the world’s top 32 prior to the tournament but had beaten the likes of Mark Webster, Gary Anderson and Wes Newton on his way to the final.
On paper, all signs pointed towards a comfortable Taylor victory.
A strong start in the final only solidified that notion as the world number one stole a 2-0 lead in the best-of-21 leg final.
However, Taylor proved he was human in the third leg when he missed a whopping ten darts at a double and Thornton seized his chance to get on the board.
Taylor recovered from the brief wobble to make it 3-2 but the Scot returned fire to make it 3-3.
Yet things would take a bizarre twist in the seventh leg.
With 354 left, Thornton grimaced in frustration when he hit 20 with his first dart.
Scottish Lad Darts Channel – YouTubeA kerfuffle behind Thornton immediately caught his and Taylor’s attention[/caption]
Scottish Lad Darts Channel – YouTubeThe cameras showed it was a fan who tried to climb on stage that stopped the match[/caption]
But before he could throw his second, Thornton sharply turned around after hearing a commotion behind him.
The camera angle then changed to reveal a fan tried to make their way onto the stage in Bolton.
Thankfully the security in the venue wasted little time in stopping the fan as they grabbed their ankles and dragged them onto the floor.
It didn’t take long before the crowd showered the unruly patron with boos before they clapped and cheered for the game’s resumption.
All up, a full minute had elapsed before Thornton threw his second dart.
Despite the disruptive incident, it failed to throw Thornton off his game as he went on to hit the lead for the first time in the contest.
Scottish Lad Darts Channel – YouTubeThornton recovered from a wobbly start to dominate Taylor[/caption]
It was a lead he never relinquished, as Thornton won a staggering 11 of the next 14 legs from when he was 3-2 down.
The Scot wrapped up his 11-5 victory when he pinned a 121 checkout and finished with a bullseye to land himself a £40,000 pay day as well as a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts.
Speaking after the contest, Thornton couldn’t hide his delight given his win in Bolton was his first PDC major.
“I’m very proud,” Thornton told Sky Sports.
“My kids are going to be up jumping all over the place.
“To just get to the final, I was happy enough. To win it… it’s just unbelievable.”
As for Taylor, it was just the sixth time he had lost a major televised final in his career.
“He caned me to be honest with you, and I think he deserved it,” Taylor said.
Taylor added: “I missed a lot of doubles but Robert was the better player.”
Thornton went on to win only one more PDC major as he took out the 2015 World Grand Prix.
But none will have been as special as his triumph in Bolton, even if a fan tried to derail the contest early on.
