Colin Monk was left counting the cost of missed doubles as he went out of the finals of the UK Open at Bolton Wanderers FC 10-8 to Shayne Burgess.
The Basingstoke star had beaten John King, Andy Smith, Matt Chapman, Alan Reynolds and reigning PDC World Champion, Canadian John Part.
It was missed doubles that let Monk down as he squandered an 8-6 lead to lose 10-8 to Hastings man Burgess.
Phil Taylor issued a warning to his rivals as he proved he is back to his best by winning the inaugural title.
Some people were suggesting after 'The Power' had lost an epic World Championship final to John Part in January that the mantle of the greatest player in the game's history might be slipping.
But after an 18-8 victory in the final over Burgess - another man who had been written off - Taylor insisted his loss to Part had merely been a wake-up call.
"Losing the world title gutted me but it wasn't the end of the world," said the 42-year-old from Stoke, who was never extended in the six matches he needed to win to secure the £30,000 first prize in Bolton.
"It actually took a lot of the pressure off me and enabled me to experiment with a different kind of darts and that sort of thing.
"I was absolutely worn out at the end of last year after all the tournaments and exhibitions I had been playing and I lost a lot of weight because I had been in the gym so much.".
It was a good weekend for Hampshire players in general. In the opening 35 games, five involved Hampshire players with all but one winning.
Going out to Andy Smith was Martyn Dunford, but Monk was joined in the next stage by Bob Crawley, Paul Hogan and Robert Heard.
Also in the running was Totton man Paul Carter, once winner and twice finalist of the Hampshire Open, but he was beaten by ex-Hants man Cliff Lazarenko.
Crawley, Hogan and Heard all lost in the second round.
In the third round the top ranked players were introduced and this saw wins for James Wade and Andy Jenkins - who both lost in the fourth round - and Monk.
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