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Get the lowdown on the eight darting stars competing in the 2008 Premier League, live on Sky Sports.

Watch every dart of the 2008 Premier League live on Sky Sports every Thursday night.

It's that time of year again when the crème de la crème of the darting world clash tungsten in the ever-growing Premier League Darts which promises to be the biggest and the best yet, and all of it is live on Sky Sports. The eight best darts players in the business will clash over 14 league nights to be staged in front of record crowds up and down the length and breadth of Great Britain. With every dart being screened live on Sky Sports, a record 6,000 crowd will be in attendance at the Liverpool Echo Arena in April - one of the new venues introduced this year as the 2008 Premier League becomes the biggest darts event ever. The players face each other twice in best-of-14 legs matches, which can be drawn, and the top four in the league will progress to the play-off in Cardiff in May. Reigning champion Phil Taylor has a remarkable record in the Premier League which saw him, despite not winning a traditional major last year, notch his third consecutive title success in 2007 to maintain his unbeaten record in the three years of the tournament. 'The Power' is 44-0 heading into the 2008 Premier League, where he is joined by Peter Manley as the only two ever-presents in the tournament. James Wade will be the only debutant, while world champion John Part returns after a two-year absence with Wayne Mardle being handed the Sky Sports wildcard. Take a look at the eight men competing for the 2008 Premier League title.

Phil Taylor

Simply the greatest player ever to step on the oche, the man from Stoke has claimed 13 world titles when taking the sport to an unprecedented level. 'The Power' missed out on the traditional major tournaments in 2007, but he continued his Premier League dominance with a third straight victory, whilst also winning the Grand Slam of Darts, US Open and German Darts Championship. Still unbeaten after 44 Premier League matches, it will take a remarkable effort to dethrone him this time around.

Factfile:

Born: 13 August 1960, Stoke-on-Trent
Lives: Stoke-on-Trent
Nickname: The Power
Darts: Unicorn 24g Phil Taylor
Qualified As: Number 1 in PDC Order of Merit
Ranking: 2nd
Premier League: 05: Won, 06: Won, 07: Won
Sky Bet Odds: 15/8F

Raymond van Barneveld

The big Dutchman made the move to the PDC in 2006 to take part in the Premier League, where he instantly catapulted himself to the head of the list of challengers to Taylor's darting crown. Barney showed exactly what he is made of when he hit the first, and as yet only, nine-darter in Premier League history against Peter Manley in Bournemouth in March 2006. Capped a fine year with an epic sudden-death victory over Taylor in the 2007 World Championship final in Purfleet, and he added the UK Open and Las Vegas Desert Classic last season.

Factfile:

Born: 20 April 1967
Lives: Den Haag
Nickname: Barney
Darts: 25g Grand Slam
Qualified As: Number 2 in PDC Order of Merit.
Current Ranking: 1st
Premier League: 06: Semi-finals 07: Semi-finals
Sky Bet Odds: 3/1

James Wade

James Wade has been the real mover over the past 12 months, muscling in on the darting hierarchy with back-to-back major titles propelling him up the rankings. The talented left-hander signaled his skills with three nine-darters in one year but managed to transfer that form to the big stage when winning the World Matchplay and the Grand Prix in 2007. Although the World Championship was something of a disappointment, the former mechanic has packed in his job - and a fantastic run of 11 non-televised finals during 2007 justified his decision. Seemingly fearless and always ice cool under pressure, he will be a very dangerous debutant.

Factfile:

Born: 6 April 1983, Aldershot
Lives: Aldershot, Hants
Nickname: The Machine
Darts: 22g Unicorn James Wade
Qualified As: Number 3 in PDC Order of Merit
Current Ranking: 3rd on PDC Order of Merit
Premier League: Debut
Sky Bet Odds: 7/2

Terry Jenkins

Terry Jenkins made a sparkling impact in his Premier League debut last year as he made one of his numerous final appearances when losing out to Phil Taylor. 'The Bull' has produced commendable consistency over the past 18 months, but that illusive major title has eluded him despite making four finals - as Taylor, van Barneveld and Wade (twice) have all denied him the silverware. After surprising many with his run to the final last year, Jenkins will have to cope with the weight of expectancy this time around as he goes in search of that big trophy.

Factfile:

Born: 26 September 1963, Ledbury
Lives: Ledbury, Herefordshire
Nickname: The Bull
Darts: 21g Unicorn
Qualified As: Number 4 in PDC Order of Merit
Current Ranking: 5th on PDC Order of Merit.
Premier League: 07: Runner-up
Sky Bet Odds: 10/1

Peter Manley

Peter Manley joins Phil Taylor as the only two men who will have played in every Premier League competition when he turns up for his fourth consecutive appearance in the 2008 event. A three-time World Championship finalist, 'One Dart' got his hands on a major trophy when he scooped the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2003. Always a tough competitor, Manley has been known to use the odd spot of gamesmanship to get under the skin of the opposition, although as yet it has not worked fully in the Premier League with just one play-off appearance.

Factfile:

Born: 7 March 1962, Cheam, Surrey
Lives: Carlisle, Cumbria
Nickname: One Dart
Darts: 21g Unicorn Peter Manley
Qualified As: Number 5 in PDC Order of Merit
Current Ranking: 13th on PDC Order of Merit
Premier League: 05: Semi-finals, 06: 6th, 07: 6th
Sky Bet Odds: 50/1

Adrian Lewis

Adrian Lewis has shown enough ability to have landed a major title by now, but he has also shown he can be ruffled at times and some say he could do with cooling his temperament. 'Jackpot' Lewis burst onto the scene in 2005 and he has gained a lot of big-match experience despite still only being 23. His 'no-look' 180 attempts can wow and frustrate in equal measures, and he will need to focus more to avoid finishing bottom of the table as he did last year on his debut.

Factfile:

Born: 22 January 1985, Stoke
Lives: Stoke-on-Trent
Nickname: Jackpot
Darts: 20g Unicorn Adrian Lewis
Qualified As: Number 6 in PDC Order of Merit
Current Ranking: 6th on PDC Order of Merit
Premier League: 07: 8th
Sky Bet Odds: 6/1

John Part

It says something for the strength of the Premier League field that the current world champion is only a 14/1 shot to win the tournament. The Canadian returned to his brilliant best to win the World Championship at Alexandra Palace on New Year's Day, performing consistently well throughout the tournament. Travelling across the Atlantic did not help his cause on his last Premier League appearance in 2005, when he could only finish sixth, and he will hope for better this time around. A great finisher, should Part get ahead quickly he can be a hard mad to overtake in the final stretch, while he is also one of the best counters in the game.

Factfile:

Born: 29 June 1966, Toronto
Lives:Oshawa, Ontario
Nickname: Darth Maple
Darts: 23g Unicorn John Part
Qualified As: 2008 PDC World Champion
Current Ranking: 4th on PDC Order of Merit
Premier League: 05: 6th
Sky Bet Odds: 16/1

Wayne Mardle

The showman returns to the Premier League, with Mardle being handed the Sky Sports Wildcard his legion of fans are sure to have breathed a sigh of relief. After a poor run of form over the past year or so, Mardle finally showed whathe can do with a superb performance in the World Championship, culminating in his thrilling emotional win over Taylor in the quarter-finals. After such a result, his name seemed destined to be on the trophy, but Kirk Shepherd spoilt his dream - for now. Now back in the Premier League, and back on song, Hawaii 501 will be hoping for plenty of dancing celebrations as he bids to put his two poor League displays in previous years behind him.

Factfile:

Born: 10 May 1973
Lives:Romford
Nickname: Hawaii 501
Darts: 22g Harrows
Qualified As: Sky Sports Wildcard
Current Ranking: 9th on PDC Order of Merit
Premier League: 05: 7th, 06: 7th
Sky Bet Odds: 20/1