Can Phil Taylor win the PDC World Championships this year?

Posted: 18.11.15 in Darts Performance Centre Blog category

What do you think, can The Power do it ever again?

Without a shadow of a doubt, Phil Taylor will go down in history as the greatest darts player of all-time. The 16-time world champion has dominated the sport since joining the Professional Darts Corporation back in 1993 and would love one last opportunity to win the sport’s largest and most important competition.

Although he struggled for a spell last year, Taylor appears to have regained his form and should be regarded as a genuine threat in this year’s tournament. The World Championships get underway on December 17th and the best players on the planet will all be trying to lift the title and claim £300,000 for winning the event.

Taylor is a seasoned veteran and knows exactly what is needed to win this competition. In the early stages of the tournament, the professional players must have their wits about them as the qualifiers can cause massive shocks. However, Taylor should have too much knowledge and experience to allow this to happen.

At the business end of the tournament, Taylor will need luck to succeed. If he is drawn against Michael van Gerwen or Gary Anderson, he will find it very difficult to advance to the next round of the competition. At his best, Taylor would fancy his chances but he’s getting older and the intense pressure of the tournament may affect his preparation.

Ultimately, it will all depend on how much this means to Taylor. Earlier in the year. While he was unable to win that particular tournament, he showed enough quality to suggest that he could cause problems for the likes of Anderson, Van Gerwen and Peter Wright, who went on to win the event

Ultimately, it will all depend on how much this means to Taylor. Earlier in the year, Coral were tipping the Englishman to succeed in the Auckland Masters. While he was unable to win that particular tournament, he showed enough quality to suggest that he could cause problems for the likes of Anderson, Van Gerwen and Peter Wright, who went on to win the event.

Although he isn’t invincible, Van Gerwen is the best player on the planet and is almost unbeatable on his day. However, so is Anderson. The Scot is a dominant force in the world of darts and ‘peppers’ the treble-20 when he gets going. Both of these players will be full of confidence and, if they play at their very best, both should reach the final of the competition.

One of these stars will need to beat Phil Taylor and that’s not an easy feat. Going purely by rank on the Order of Merit, Anderson will face Taylor for a place in the final of the World Championships – what a game that would be. If he plays at his best, Taylor stand a great chance and his supporters will be looking forward to a potential seventeenth world title at the beginning of January.

Photos courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC