Can anyone beat Phil Taylor at the World Darts Championships?

Since the inception of the current World Darts Championship in 1994, the sport has been dominated by one man – Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

He is massive favourite at 4/9 in the darts betting heading into the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and, when you look at his record, it’s little wonder.

‘The Power’ has won 15 World Darts Championships and is the first player to win over £1 million in darts prize money.

And he just keeps breaking records. In May this year he overcame James Wade – currently 11/1 in the World Darts Championship betting – in the final of the Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts title, making two nine-dart finishes in the process – the first player in darts history to make two in a single game.

So, can he be beaten? Arguably his biggest rival, Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld, is out at 11/1 in the darts odds and will have his work cut out to upset the darts championship odds.

Taylor has seen off Van Barneveld in four finals in little over a year and has won 35 of their previous 45 meetings.

However, Van Barneveld has upset the World Darts Championship odds before – the Dutchman beat ‘The Power’ 7-6 in the 2007 final in what many people believe is the greatest game of darts ever.

Van Barneveld certainly looks to be most likely candidate to usurp Taylor as Ladbrokes.com World Darts Champion and could certainly be worth a punt in the darts betting. However, Barney will have to be at the top of his game to stop the greatest player ever from claiming a 16th World Darts Championship.

Do you think Van Barneveld can win the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship? See the full darts betting market here…