Michael van Gerwen has successfully retained the World Matchplay title with an 18-10 win over Phil Taylor.

In 2014 Van Gerwen suffered a one-sided defeat to Taylor in the final, but the world number one never looked like losing for a second time to the 15-time champion as he coasted to victory at the Winter Gardens.

Taylor took the opening leg but as soon as Van Gerwen opened up a 3-1 lead, he never looked back and five successive legs in the third session saw him open up an 11-4 advantage.

To his credit, Taylor continued to compete with his Dutch opponent but Van Gerwen's finishing was as good as it has been all week and it ultimately made the difference.

The 27-year-old missed just nine shots at a double-all match as he ended the contest with an average of 103.93, his highest in three finals in Blackpool.