The PDC World Darts Championship is the pinnacle event of the entire sport.
The ability to remain cool, calm, and collected inside an electric Alexandra Palace to claim the prestigious prize separates the men from the boys, and greats of the game have been born.
The 2023/24 renewal of the tournament is due to get underway on December 15 before concluding on January 3, and it’s hard to pick a winner in the PDC World Championship odds.
Whether it’s a previous winner reinstating their dominance, or an upcoming star getting their hands on the top prize for the first time, it will be yet another piece of darts history inscribed in folklore.
Let’s go on a journey through time and take a look at some of the players who’ve sealed legendary status.
Phil Taylor
Where better to start than with Phil Taylor?
The 63-year-old dominated the sport for over two decades, and his incredible 79 premier events are proof of that.
‘The Power’ won the World Championship a record 14 times in 19 years, including an incredible run of eight straight successes from 1995 to 2002.
Taylor also lost the final five times, with his most recent appearance coming in 2018 — when he was beaten 7-2 by Rob Cross.
Michael van Gerwen
The favorite to win the upcoming renewal of the PDC World Championship in darts betting, a victory at Ally Pally in the new year would see Michael van Gerwen move on to four triumphs.
With Taylor aging, ‘Mighty Mike’ was tipped to become the new face of the sport — but not before The Power got one over on the Dutchman in his first World Championship final in 2013.
Van Gerwen returned with a vengeance the following year, beating Peter Wright to be crowned the champion — and he’s won it twice more in 2017 and 2019 to become the second most successful player in the tournament’s history.
The 34-year-old will be disappointed that he hasn’t won it in the four years since, especially considering he’s lost two finals, but he will be in contention again this year.
Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson was a seasoned pro by the time he won his PDC World Championship in 2015, but he secured legendary status when he became just the third person to win the title back-to-back.
Dubbed ‘The Flying Scotsman’, Anderson had been a runner to Adrian Lewis in 2011 before getting the better of Taylor in a 7-6 thrilling four years later.
The now 52-year-old defended his title by getting revenge on Lewis with a 7-5 win the following year and has lost two finals to van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price since.
Despite currently being ranked 20th in the world, Anderson is the fifth favorite to win the PDC World Championship for a third time at 12/1.
Adrian Lewis
Speaking of Lewis, he features on our list of legends as the other back-to-back winner of the PDC World Championship.
As already mentioned, the Englishman beat Anderson 7-5 to claim the £1 million prize in 2011, and he beat his compatriot Andy Hamilton 7-3 to defend his title 12 months later.
Lewis’ only other final appearance came in that aforementioned loss to ‘The Flying Scotsman’ in 2016.
‘Jackpot’ is currently ranked 43rd in the world and is a 150/1 outsider to land a third PDC World Championship victory this year.
