World Matchplay Darts: Coral’s five picks for the title

Phil Taylor – 10/3

No one ever has been, or perhaps will be, so dominant in darts or even any individual sport as Taylor has. The 54-year-old has practically owned the game for the last 25 years and is still going strong.

Taylor also comes into one of his favourite tournaments in great form too, after many (once again) wrote him off at the beginning of the year, following wins in the World Cup and recent Japan Masters events.

At 10/3, punters should pile their money on this darting colossus to claim an eighth successive World Matchplay trophy, which would be his 17th overall from just 22 editions of the competition.

Michael van Gerwen – 7/4 favourite

While Taylor is the greatest player in darting history, Van Gerwen is the world number one and has been for some time now – for a good reason.

Mighty Mike, still just 26, is undoubtedly the future of the sport, and The Power will be aiming to restrict him from gaining on his title totals while he is still able to. Even so, the Dutchman already has the likes of World Championship, World Grand Prix, Premier League, and Masters trophies to his name.

One competition that has eluded Van Gerwen to date has been the World Matchplay, although he did reach the final last year, where he was thrashed 18-9 by Taylor. He is lacking major trophies this year, although he did claim the Coral UK Open in March, so will be itching to get his hands on this one.

Peter Wright – 25/1

Snakebite, 45, will be hoping to avoid earning the title of perhaps the greatest player never to win a major trophy. However, the Scottish-born, English-sounding star is fast becoming the Colin Montgomerie of darts after being runner-up in the World Championship (2014), World Cup (2015), UK Open (2015) and, most recently, the Japan Masters.

Like Chisnall, Wright has been unlucky not to win a top title, but can take heart from recent runs this year at tournaments, so punters could earn big bucks by backing him.

Coral’s betting tip – Taylor to win the World Matchplay title at 10/3