THE man they call The Rocket has been grounded of late.

But Ronnie Baxter is confident he will be firing on all cylinders at the Embassy World Darts Championship which starts this weekend.

Twelve months after Baxter was pipped to glory by Ray Barneveld in one of the greatest finals ever seen, Ronnie is back at the Lakeside Country Club and adamant that, despite a month off through injury, he can go all the way.

The arrows ace from Church, making his eighth appearance in the Embassy and seeded number two for the fourth time, begins his pursuit of the £44,000 winner's cheque with a first-round tie against unknown American qualifier Scott Wollaston on Sunday.

"I'm practising hard, throwing well and ready to go," he said. "There is no reason why I can't go one step further than last year."

Few judges would disagree since The Rocket, who gets his nickname from the speed of his throw, has been a prolific compiler of titles for more than a decade.

The bookies too, make Baxter their second favourite behind Barneveld, the man who beat Baxter 6-5 in their memorable final last winter and who is now aiming for a hat-trick of crowns.

But while Baxter has the talent, the one nagging doubt is his health. Baxter has been struggling with a neck injury and even though he doesn't believe it will affect his chances when the lights go down at the famous Surrey nightspot, it has hampered his preparation.

"It doesn't hurt when I throw but it leaves me feeling stiff," said the 38-year-old England international.

"I've been testing it out with long practice sessions, just to recreate the length of match I will face in the Embassy, and fingers crossed it will be fine.

"But it is there and it has come at a bad time."

The unflappable Baxter is not only having to contend with an irritating injury, but he is also in a poor run of form which has seen him go a full calendar year without collecting a trophy, a first in 12 years at the top of the sport.

His modest run culminated in a 2-1 defeat by little-known Austrian Mensur Suljovic in last month's Winmau World Masters, but as Baxter said: "It wouldn't have happened had the game been longer than three sets."

That's probably true and in fairness, even though Baxter didn't enter the winner's enclosure in 1999, he did assemble enough places to maintain his seeding.

"The point about darts is that it is how you feel on the night and I know I will be fine," he said.

"I've got great experience and I've beaten all the top players. If it's my week then I will win the competition. I'm confident."

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