It was always Phil Taylor's Grand Slam title

Taylor returned to form with the all-too-familiar sight of him lifting the trophy at the Civic Hall, as he has for all but two occasions since the Grand Slam started.

You could almost see it in your water that this would happen. All of a sudden, that 17th world title doesn't seem like such an outside bet now, writes Craig Birch.

But boy did he have to survive a few frights against Dave Chisnall, who battled back from 8-3 to level at 10-10 and then clawed it back to 15-13 before conceding defeat.

Taylor had earlier defeated King 16-9 in the semi-finals to within sight of glory, having dispatched almost every opponent with ease. His average never dipped below three figures.

Huybrechts couldn't join Taylor in the final, but pushed Chisnall all of the way in the last four. He was edged out 16-15 in the deciding leg, awakening memories of last year's Taylor-Adrian Lewis clash.

And the Belgian had raised the biggest cheer of the whole tournament by treating Black Country darts fans to something they haven't been used to seeing.

Not since James Wade's perfect leg against Gary Anderson during the 2009 competition had the Civic witnessed a nine-darter and it came in far different circumstances.

While Wade couldn't even win that second round tie, Huybrechts was on the way to dumping reigning world champion and 2012 Grand Slam finalist Michael van Gerwen out of the event.

'The Hurricane' became the unsung star of the eight-day long event, which attracted record numbers in what has become a flagship event for Wolverhampton.

Over 13,000 people have passed through the Civic doors since play started the previous weekend, with punters going through over 72,000 pints of alcohol as they watched the action.

The event's signature sponsor, Singha Beer, has proved good stuff for spectators, with fancy dress ranging from everything from Batman to Darth Vader.

They have seen thrills, spills and shocks in equal measure and the players have really raised their game with some top-class darts.

PDC owner Barry Hearn stated that we could reach a point with today's throwers that only a 100-plus average will present a chance of winning.

Van Gerwen lost 16-10 in Friday night's quarter-final with an average of 103.87, slightly inferior to Huybrechts' 104.83. That's the standard we may come to expect.

Taylor recorded the highest average in Grand Slam history on just the second day, clocking up 114.65 in a 5-1 victory over Christian Kist.

The group stages had spelled the end for the likes of Lewis, Simon Whitlock and 2010 Grand Slam champion Scott Waites.

The man victorious at the Civic in 2012, Raymond van Barneveld, was stunned 10-7 by Keegan Brown in the second round, where James Wade and Peter Wright also exited.

Chisnall eventually broke Brown's resolve 16-14 after another close-run affair come the quarters while another young impressionist Michael Smith, was hammered 16-3 by Taylor.

BDO world champion Stephen Bunting's debut year in the PDC goes from strength to strength. Only King could halt his charge, 16-9 in the last eight.

So that was the 2014 Grand Slam. On and off the oche, it's just getting better and better. Worthy of a bigger venue? Perhaps, but the PDC know they are still onto a winner here.