PHIL "The Power" Taylor overcame seven of the world's top darts players and, ironically, a power cut to win the inaugural PDC Championship League Darts title at Stock's Crondon Park Golf Club.

The 13-times world champion held off Mervyn King 7-5 in a thrilling final to lift the trophy and secure the £5,000 first prize.

The competition, which was exclusively screened on the websites of bookmakers Ladbrokes and Bet365, saw 29 of the world's top 31 players battle for the title.

Competing players won prize money for every leg won, with the winners of eight group stages qualifying for Thursday's finals day.

Taylor, who has won an unprecedented 13 titles this season, was again in imperious form, winning six and drawing one of his final group matches.

Only former World Championship finalist Mark Dudbridge could hold Taylor to a 5-5 draw, while King, Colin Osborne, Mark Walsh, Vincent van der Voort, Andy Hamilton and Alan Tabern were all beaten.

However, Taylor's 6-0 thrashing of Osborne was interrupted midway through the opening leg by a power cut that stopped play for nearly an hour.

But the Stoke-on-Trent star held his nerve to continue his superb run of form, beating Tabern 6-4 in the semi-finals before holding off King in the final.

Afterwards, Taylor was delighted with a display that earned him a total of £20,050 from the tournament.

"I'm over the moon. It's a fantastic tournament and will get bigger and bigger," he said.

"The players have loved it. It's good money for everyone and has been exciting to play in - as today showed."

The PDC circuit continues with the German Players Championship in Dinslaken this weekend.

There, Southend-based Steve Maish is seeded 32 and faces either Czech Miroslav Navrotil or German Holger Kauf in round one.

Should "Mr Magic" prevail, he is likely to face number one seed and world number five Terry Jenkins in the second round.

*FOR an in-depth look at darts' new south Essex event, see next week's Echo.