Raymond van Barneveld's 12-month quest to depose Phil Taylor as the undisputed king of darts reaches the moment of truth on New Year's Day in the Ladbrokes.com World Championship final.

The showdown every fan of the sport wanted to see has become a reality as the two best players on the planet go head to head at Purfleet's Circus Tavern for the £100,000 first prize.

A year ago, when Taylor was preparing to face Peter Manley in what proved to be a 7-0 trouncing as he claimed his 13th world title, the prospect of him ever playing 'Barney' was mere speculation.

The Dutchman was still part of the British Darts Organisation, whose version of the world championship he had won four times, and was very much the biggest fish in that particular pond.

However, rumours that Van Barneveld was to cross the divide were confirmed in February, and the 39-year-old admits it was the hunt for Taylor's crown that made him take that huge career decision.

"I've followed Phil for years, and after losing the Lakeside final to Jelle Klaasen in January I decided to set myself a new target," said the former postman from The Hague.

"I wanted this man. I gave up everything I had with the BDO to get to this final and to beat this man. It was my biggest dream.

"A lot of people in Holland were telling me I had won Lakeside (the BDO world title) four times and that I was the best player in the world.

"But there was a voice in my head saying 'no, you're not, there's one better than you'. That was in my head in January and February and so I decided I had to give up everything to come here.

"Now I hope I can beat him in front of everyone. The final was my biggest target - beating Phil is something else. You have to play world-class darts to beat this man. I hope we have a great final."

The duo have already met five times since Van Barneveld joined the Professional Darts Corporation and honours are evenly split.

"We've played each other five times in 2006 - we drew once, he won twice and I've won twice," said 'Van The Man'. "Now I hope to make it 3-2 in my favour."

Taylor has acknowledged his spat with Chris Mason at the end of their third-round match may end up tarnishing his bid for world title number 14, and is keen for the final to be the occasion everyone hopes it will be against a player he thoroughly respects.

"There's so much nastiness in the world so let's have a nice New Year's Day," said the 46-year-old from Stoke.

"Let's have a good friendly game, and I think that's what will happen. I think it will be a cracker - and it won't be 7-0."