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Bennett vows to keep his feet on the ground after toppling Taylor

Phil Lanning in Darts Interviews 12 Jun 2019
Bennett celebrates (credit:Taylor Lanning)
Teen tungsten talent Leighton Bennett has vowed to keep his feet on the ground despite defeating his hero Phil Taylor.
The 13-year-old BDO World Youth Champion sensationally saw off 16-time World Champion Taylor 4-1 at the SAP Darts Slam in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
Bennett leapt into the air with his now customary celebration and had tears in his eyes as he avenged his narrow defeat to ‘The Power’ in their historic Tower of London clash earlier this year.
“I can’t believe I’ve become a World Champion and beaten Phil Taylor within six months,” admitted Bennett. “That’s a dream come true.
“I feel like a kid on Christmas morning, I never believed this was possible. I had a great match with Phil at the Tower of London a couple of months ago but he was too good.
“I was so frustrated with myself for letting that chance go. Then I drew him again here and told myself I wasn’t going to let this chance slip.
“During the whole match I just kept focused, I didn’t even give Phil any eye contact just so I forgot that I was playing him!
“It’s a brilliant win but now I just have to forget about it very quickly. I know I leapt up in the air again after the final dart but I need to keep my feet on the ground.”
Bennett lost out to Peter Wright in the Semi-Finals of the exhibition event in Frankfurt, with ‘Snakebite’ going on to defeat Raymond van Barneveld 4-3 in the final.
The youngster, who recently landed a nine-dart finish in competition, added: “I’ve got amazing people around me and I’m continuing to learn. 
“Rob Cross and my sponsor Rab Bain were telling me before the match that I needed to use my cover shots on the treble 19 more.
“I kept sticking at the treble 20 and was getting bounce-outs. I listened to them and the 19s probably won me the match in the end.
“I get so much good advice from the likes of Rob, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Wrighty at events like this. I’m very lucky to have that.”
The sell-out event saw Wright beat Anderson in the opening round while Cross defeated MVG and Barney knocked out Women’s World Champion Mikuru Suzuki.
Van Barneveld then beat Cross to set-up a final clash with Wright – which the Scot edged in a deciding leg.