Phil Taylor won the UK Open Darts Championship for the third time at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday night.

Taylor lived up to his nickname, The Power, by storming to an 11-6 victory over Colin Osborne in a one-sided final in front of a capacity crowd on the last night of the four-day tournament at Bolton Wanderers’ stadium.

Osborne made a flying start, winning the first three legs of the final as he threatened to give Taylor a serious mountain to climb.

The Power refused to buckle and stepped up his game. He took the fourth leg to break his losing run and then went from strength to strength.

He went on a run which left Osborne staring at defeat. Nine straight wins saw Taylor romp inexorably towards the winning total of 11 with a quality of performance which rendered his opponent helpless.

Osborne, who beat Kevin Painter 10-7 in the semi-final, maintained his composure despite the mauling but he had no answer to Taylor’s relentless surge until he won the 13th leg to pull the score back to 9-4.

It was a brief respite, however, as Taylor, 10-6 winner against Ronnie Baxter in his semi, took the next leg to leave him needing just one more to take the title.

Osborne refused to give up and won the next two legs to give the score some respectability before Taylor clinched the title in the 17th leg, his winning shot lodging in the double 20 which sealed the £40,000 first prize and maintained his position as by far the most outstanding darts player in the country.