Exception-Sports highlight of the year?

The final of the PDC World Championship was the most gripping and compelling piece of sporting action I've seen in the last 12 months.

I never thought I would write those words. Indeed, in the past I might even have hesitated to describe darts as a sport.

But last night's final between Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor was a piece of sporting theatre that might not be bettered in 2007.

We had the two finest players in the world - some say of all time - going head to head and playing at the peak of their powers.

While I've struggled to sit through an entire 90 minutes of most Premiership matches this season, I couldn't turn away from this match for a second of its three-hour duration.

It ebbed and flowed throughout and I couldn't predict a winner until Van Barneveld hit double 20 to clinch the title shortly before 11pm.

The ability of the protagonists to perform under the most extreme pressure was incredible and could even serve as a lesson to our misfiring cricket and football teams.

Perhaps it's time we should start recognising these players as sportsmen of the highest calibre.

Taylor and Van Barneveld are completely dedicated and devoted to their profession, practicing for hours a day and constantly thinking of ways to improve.

And the standard in the final was incredibly high. Taylor averaged 113 as he took the first eight legs and won the first set with a 164 check-out.

Van Barneveld's fightback began with a 170 finish and he struck 21 maximums, a record for a world final.

With the score locked at six sets and five legs apiece, the final went into a tense and nerve-racking sudden-death finale. Yet the duo continued their incredibly high standard of play.

Van Barneveld hit the bullseye to throw first. Then Taylor thought he had seized the initiative with a 180, only for his opponent to hit back immediately with a maximum of his own.

Eventually Van Barneveld hit double 20 to clinch the world title and broke down in tears on the stage.

Although Taylor's bid for a 14th world title had been thwarted, he was generous and gracious in defeat.

"He (Van Barneveld) has a lot of bottle," he said. "This is the best final I have been in."

Can any sporting showpiece of the last 12 months beat the drama, excitement and superlative quality of last night's event?

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By simon Austin