PHIL TAYLOR 5-1 JAMES HUBBARD

PHIL TAYLOR recorded victory in his opening match of the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts with a 5-1 victory against 19-year-old James Hubbard.

Hubbard, the son of former professional Vic, was making his televised debut and produced some impressive darts on the big stage.

Taylor started the match by winning the opening leg on double 16 and the three-time Grand Slam champion repeated the trick to double his lead and put the youngster immediately under pressure with legs of 13 and 14 darts.

The third leg saw Taylor miss three chances to take a 3-0 lead and Hubbard managed to finish double one with his last dart to get a leg on the board.

Taylor soon restored his two-leg advantage by breaking throw to win the fourth before Hubbard hit three consecutive 140s in the next.

The 19-year-old - who sealed a place in this competition by reaching the final of the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship - failed to replicate that scoring into a finishing opportunity and Taylor took out 68 to lead 4-1.

The fifth leg saw Hubbard again show some impressive scoring but he missed four darts to keep the match alive and Taylor once again punished the youngster by taking out 84, hitting double 11 with his last dart.

"James was difficult to beat today," admitted Taylor. "He produced some consistent scoring and I think he will give Mervyn King a real battle tomorrow night.

"I didn't know how James would play, but he did well. I'd watched him practising before the game and he should keep doing what he's doing because he'll settle down on stage and play his natural game. He's dedicated and he's got a big future ahead of him."

After his first televised match Hubbard, revealed, "I was very nervous coming out but on to the stage but I felt much better once I was on stage and throwing my darts."