Five great battles in the PDC Grand Slam

Few have got much past six-time champion Phil Taylor, with Raymond van Barneveld and Scott Waites the only other winners of the trophy.

But there's been plenty of other clashes which has got fans' pulses racing. Here, our darts reporter Craig Birch looks back at five of the very best.

1, James Wade versus Gary Anderson, 20 November 2008.

In any tournament, a nine-dart finish is as good as anything you'll see, but they weren't as commonplace then before the standard skyrocketed.

The Civic event was into his second year and was still being broadcast on ITV4, making this the first time a perfect leg had been seen on free-to-air television.

It was James Wade who acquiesced during his second round knockout against Gary Anderson, leading 6-5 before he really turned on the style.

The crowd took to the edge of their seats after two successive 180s from 'the Machine.' In went treble 20 again, before treble 19 set him up for the double 12 that just landed on the edge of the wire.

Wade, along with the audience, went absolutely wild with celebration, with even Anderson gripping him by the hand. The joy didn't last, though, as he lost 10-8 and went out.

2, Wayne Jones versus Gary Anderson, 20 November 2010.

Everyone loves a hometown hero and Wolverhampton is no exception. To borrow footballing parlance, the Civic faithful were the 12th man for Wayne Jones in this edition of the tournament.

A never-say-die attitude from 'the Wanderer' only inspired them further, particularly when he was right up against it against Anderson in the quarter-finals.

The Wednesfield thrower had trailed for much of the match but was just about hanging in there, although his resistance looked futile when 'the Flying Scotsman' moved to 15-13 up.

Jones just wouldn't give up, though, and ploughed through pressure to take the next three legs and pip Anderson to the post, 16-15. It remains his finest Grand Slam moment.

3, Scott Waites versus James Wade, 21 November 2010.

Comebacks were very much the order of the 2010 tournament and they saved the best for last, with BDO man Scott Waites going one better this time.

Wade had put paid to Jones' dream run in the semi-finals, while Waites was back in the final having lost 16-2 to Phil Taylor the year before.

It looked as if this decider was going the same way when Waites went 8-0 down to the PDC's No 2, but what is still the Grand Slam's greatest-ever turnaround was afoot.

Wade completely dropped the ball to fall to an unlikely defeat, losing 16 of the next 20 legs to go down 16-12. 'Scotty 2 Hotty' is unsurpassed as a BDO winner of the Grand Slam, with that his first major title.

4, Ted Hankey v Simon Whitlock, 13 November 2013.

Ted Hankey did what he does best to push Simon Whitlock out of the 2013 edition at the second round stage after a see-saw encounter.

'The Count' looked dead only buried when he trailed 5-1, but he came back to haunt Whitlock and eventually barge past him to the finish line.

He cast a spell on 'the Wizard' and pulled the game all square at 7-7, slowing down the Aussie's throw to then lead at 9-8 before he levelled.

A last leg shoot-out was the stuff of legend as Hankey, who was in hyperbole mode, took out 58 on tops and shed a tear of joy at the result.

5, Phil Taylor v Adrian Lewis, 17 November 2013.

Only two men - Steve Beaton and Michael van Gerwen - have ever got the better of Phil Taylor at the Civic oche and he was at his imperious best here.

And that took nothing away from fellow Stoke thrower Adrian Lewis, who played out of his skin and still ended up getting widely beaten 16-9.

This record-breaking contest featured a staggering 32 maximums, then the highest number of 180s ever thrown in a PDC match.

They also shattered the status quo for largest combined average, through Taylor's 109.76 and Lewis' even better 110.99. 'The Power' had to reel off eight straight legs to take control of the tie.