On this day in... 2015: Phil Taylor wins first and only edition of Japan Darts Masters

In 'On this day in...', Dartsnews looks back at an event or performance by a player on a particular date. This time, a return to 28 June 2015.

This date was the final day of the only edition of the Japan Darts Masters. At the time, this tournament was part of the World Series of Darts. On the first day of play, eight PDC players took on eight Japanese players. None of the Japanese players managed to surprise a PDC player, so the eight world stars advanced to the quarter-finals.

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In the first quarter-final, Michael van Gerwen settled with Stephen Bunting (8-5), while Peter Wright was too strong for Adrian Lewis (8-4) after a high-class match. Phil Taylor won on Japanese soil by beating his old rival Raymond van Barneveld 8-3. Gary Anderson became the fourth semi-finalist after an 8-1 win over James Wade.

Wright then prevented a final place for Michael van Gerwen by forcing the Dutchman to his knees 8-7 after a decisive leg. The second semi-final also went over the full 15 legs; Taylor triumphed 8-7 against Anderson.

In the final, Taylor grabbed a wide 7-2 lead against Wright, but the Scot fought back to 7-7 thanks to finishes of 108, 121 and 129. Taylor then managed to finally take out his sixth matchdart for the overall victory at the Japan Darts Masters.

A year later, the PDC returned to Japan again, but in 2016, the tournament was listed as the Tokyo Darts Masters. That World Series tournament was won by Gary Anderson. After that, no more World Series tournaments were played in Japan.

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