Darts Legend Taylor Heckled for Being Fat, Quits Tournament

Boozy hecklers called Phil Taylor fat and the darts legend found that sufficient reason to justify walking out of a tournament in Lerwick, Shetland.

Phil Taylor, who carries the nickname of The Power and has been world champion for a record 15 times, walked out a semi-final against Raymond van Barneveld. After he was heckled, Taylor quit the oche, leaving 700 fans — who had paid 50 pounds a piece  to watch the annual competition – in the lurch.

Taylor decided he had had enough when a fan is thought to have yelled out to him addressing him as, “You fat *****”. The dart legend found sympathy among many fans who thought the comments to be over the top and that it justified Taylor’s action of leaving the tournament. The abusive fans were said to be backing Barneveld to win and were believed to be drunk.

When asked about the incident, Taylor clarified that he had been upset by some of the comments aimed at him and had therefore decided to walk off. He said he wanted fans to come and enjoy themselves and that it was fine for them to support a player but drew the line on personal abuse.

But not all fans were amused at Taylor’s reaction. Some Scots fans called him a bad loser and opined that the darts legend should be used to taking flak. They imputed that Taylor’s action was prompted less by getting teased about his weight than by the fact that he was losing to Barneveld at the time of his storming off.

The portly appearance of some of its players has led to the game of darts being lampooned since a long time.  Taylor is currently on a diet to improve his game and has in fact lost two-and-a-half stone in the last three months. When he walked off, Barneveld was leading 9-7 in a best-of-21 game. Barneveld went on to take the title.

Category: Darts, Hot Controversy, Other Sports