Build up to World Championship continues

The final international qualifiers for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship have been confirmed ahead of the tournament which begins on December 16.

Jyhan Artut and Scott MacKenzie will join 70 other hopefuls to compete at Alexandra Palace, all with the hope of picking up the top prize on January 3.

Artut defeated Wayne Mardle in the World Darts Championship last year and qualified again by virtue of being top of the rankings at the PDC Europe German Qualifier. He retained his German National Championship title, finishing above Michael Rosenauer and Kevin Munch.

Meanwhile, MacKenzie beat Alex Hon in the final of the Greater China qualifying tournament in Hong Kong on Sunday to guarantee his berth at Ally Pally next month.

Those paying close attention to this ladbrokes darts event note that Alex Roy and Matt Padgett booked their places at the prestigious event after coming through a gruelling set of fixtures at the PDPA Qualifier in Derby. Roy will enter the first round directly whilst Padgett will play in the preliminary round.

Meanwhile, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor is 8/15 favourite with Ladbrokes to take his third successive World Darts Championship title – and fourteenth overall. He will be hoping to enjoy the same success in 2011 that he enjoyed in 2010, having picked up six titles this year including the Premier League and World Matchplay crowns.

This form has resulted in him being nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, which he could collect on 19 December as the tournament is progressing.

Whatever the result of this phone vote, you feel Taylor will turn it to his advantage. If he wins, he will simply try and build on the success. If he doesn’t, it will strengthen his resolve and he will be determined to show the world what he can do.

Taylor is clearly the man to beat and the latest qualifiers will be hoping they can avoid him until the latter stages of the tournament if they have aspirations of picking up a substantial amount of prize money.