Phil Taylor accused of intentionally putting off opponents on his way to final

It's not the first time such accusations have been levelled at players during this year's World Darts Championships.

Englishman Justin Pipe made himself the villain of Ally Pally when he appeared to have intentionally attempted to put off his opponent Bernie Smith in their first round clash last week. Pipe was caught on camera coughing while Smith lined up a crucial dart. Pipe won that match, but he paid for those actions in his next outing against Phil Taylor in the third round. He was roundly booed by the London crowd in that outing, as he went down in straight sets to the 'Power.' Bizarrely, the 16 time World Champion has been accused of similar actions himself. Speaking on Talksport's breakfast show ahead of Monday night's final, former player Paul Nicholson accused Taylor of gamesmanship on his route to the decider. He claimed to have been informed by Taylor's third round, and quarter-final opponents Keegan Brown and Gary Anderson that he was sniffling, and talking when they lined up their darts.

"I've been speaking to some of his opponents like Keegan Brown and Gary Anderson. They both were hearing a lot of sniffles when he was walking back. He was talking to the players when they were trying to compose themselves" said Nicholson.

Taylor is widely adored by the darts fans, but that shouldn't mean he's immune to scrutiny. His stature in the game shouldn't shield him from such serious accusations. "They're all mind games. Phil and other players from the previous generation have been doing this for years. It's not so much a prevalent thing now but I'll tell you what, he's used it really, really well: he's upset his opponents.

"He's in the final but I think he's up against it."

Taylor takes on Rob Cross at 8.00 on Monday evening.