Raymond van Barneveld admits his diabetes is impacting him (Image: Getty)
Raymond van Barneveld insists he can still beat the best – even if his body feels 85 years old. Five-time world champion Barney, who was victorious in the PDC final of 2007, has results to prove that he can still rock it with the elite.
In this calendar year, he has recorded wins on the circuit against Luke Littler, Gary Anderson, Michael Smith and Rob Cross – though most of those wins have come at floor events, rather than on the big stage. With an early clash against Luke Humphries on the cards at Ally Pally – should both players win their second round matches – that is something Barney will need to change if he is to roll back the years this Christmas.
Now 57, Barney admits that is an unlikely result and is well aware that the heyday of his career is behind him. “It’s just a case of getting older, having less energy, diabetes, and travelling all the time,” Van Barneveld said.
“When you’re young, you can keep winning things, now I’m getting older, my eyes are getting blurry, I have diabetes, it is making it tough. Sometimes I feel like a 57-year-old like I am now, then five minutes later I will feel like an 85-year-old. You can’t handle that.
“I know in my head that I can beat all the top players. I have shown the world for the last two or three years that I can. I can beat Michael (Van Gerwen), I can beat Luke Littler, I can beat Luke Humphries. I have to do it when it is the most important, but right now I am playing well.”
If nothing else, Barney has always cut a bullish figure. He never shies away from an opinion and always believes that he will win matches. But the long Ally Pally slog, which is ran over the best part of three weeks, means that Barney – who won his last major in the 2014 – is modest in the assessment of his chances, at least by his high standards.
“It means the world to do well in this tournament,” he said. “I am not going to say I am going to win this – I normally would have said that – but after the last two or three years, it is not realistic to say I am going to win this. I can win it and why not? I can beat Luke Humphries, I can beat Luke Littler, but it is another level at the moment.
“Normally I would have a chance with an 85 or 90 average, now you need to play 105, so it is tough. You cannot miss a dart at a double anymore. It’s a bit like putting at golf, if you miss one putt, you’re done. It’s the same with darts now, if you miss one or two doubles, you’re done.”
Barney unintentionally played a significant role in history during his last Ally Pally experience. After wins over Radek Szaganski and Jim Williams, Barney was pitted against Luke Littler in a battle of the generations. Many thought it would be the point where Littler would come unstuck.
Barney still knows he can beat the best players in the world (Image: Getty)
But little did Barney know that he was walking out in front of a runaway train that showed no signs of slowing down. “I felt insecure,” Barney admits. “I wasn’t aware of how this guy was developing.
“I was told by all these people, ‘he adores you, you’re his idol’ and I am thinking alright, hang on, maybe he’s got a lot of respect for me and he might slow down his game… but he never did! He just beat me 4-1 and I was just flabbergasted. What an amazing player.
“He is so easy going, this kid. I like him, he is a credit to our sport and hopefully he is going to win many more titles – apart from when he is playing me.”
Barney heads into the World Championship as the 32nd seed, which is something of an achievement in itself following his return to the sport. He announced an emotional retirement from darts in late 2018 but would soon make a U-turn, caused initially by -19.
“I was missing the darts, but more than anything I was hoping to play more exhibitions, but they never came because of ,” he said. “I was in divorce and I don’t need to tell you how much that costs, it is 50 or 60% of my income, so I said ‘alright Raymond, what you going to do?’
“We said that we didn’t know how many years corona was going to take, so I had to get back. All credit to the PDC, they still look after us after all these years. They never, ever let us down and I thank them for that. But after that, you’re on your own, you have got to play well. Pro Tours I am getting better, but majors I have to get better, I know that.”