bwin Sportsblog - Other Sports - Can Lewis retain his title?

The PDC World Darts Championships begin this week at the Alexandra Palace in London. Widely seen as the most important of the two World Darts events due to the strength of the field then this will be a huge event and arguably the biggest in the Darts calender. Multiple world champion Phil "The Power" Taylor will be desperate to regain the title that he lost last year and all eyes will also be on holder Adrian Lewis to see whether or not he can become the first player after Taylor to retain the PDC title.

There are several key figures who could go all the way and Taylor and Lewis are just two of them. Players like Gary Anderson have been consistent all year and the ultra solid Scot will be many peoples choice. He narrowly lost out to Lewis in last year's final and so he clearly has the weaponry to go all the way.

However the ex-BDO world champion Mark Webster and world finalist Simon Whitlock have both the game and the temperament to go very deep in this event. One player who everyone knows has the game to go all the way is Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld. Another multiple world champion who will be looking to add to his haul of world titles for sure. He amazingly lost 7-1 to Taylor in the 2009 final while averaging 101.18 per throw.