Taylor looking good to win World Championsip for 17th time

It's December, the World Championship of darts is back and once again Phil "the power" Taylor looks primed to win his 17th World Championship.

Taylor comes into the tournament in great form having won the Grand Slam of Darts and reaching the final of the Players Championship only to come up short against one of his big rivals Michael Van Gerwen.

Taylor's quality has been evident throughout 2013 no more so than his amazing Grand Slam of Darts semi final victory over Adrian Lewis in arguably one of the greatest games of darts ever with both men averaging around 110.

The experience of winning 16 titles will stand to Taylor again and he is a strong favourite to take the title again for the 17th time.Winning, however, will not be an easy task with numerous challengers also hoping to be crowned champion of darts biggest tournament.

Michael Van Gerwen is sure to mount a serious assault at the competition having come up short in the final last year, he will undoubtedly be looking to avenge that defeat. His massive scoring power and having beaten Taylor only weeks ago is sure to make him the main competition to Taylor's crown.

Adrian "Jackpot" Lewis is another man hotly tipped to have a good tournament, similar to MVG his scoring power is among the best in the game and having won the tournament on two occasions already he will be keen to add a third.

Raymond Van Barneveld is always a contender in the big tournaments and this is unlikely to be any different, his consistency is a major feature of his game, he looks good to reach the adavanced stages of the tournament but whether he can win it is another question.

Both Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock will be there or there abouts but both men can struggle with their doubles and this would need to be straightened out if either realistically wants to go all the way.

Few could rule James Wade out of the running, the Englishman will expect to advance into the later stages of the tournament but he is unlikely to be able to beat the likes of Taylor or MVG unless he is on top of his game.

Dark horses such as Jenkins and Thornton could mount a challenge but nevertheless Phil "the Power" Taylor is the one to beat in the World Championship of Darts 2014.