Barney hopeful of recapturing his best form in the final months of his illustrious 32-year career
Tuesday 20 August 2019 12:57, UK
Raymond van Barneveld says he is determined to recapture his old form in time for his final appearance at the 2019/20 World Championship.
Van Barneveld has endured a difficult time on the circuit this year, including an early-elimination from the Premier League for the first time.
But he is steadily building up to one more attempt at winning a sixth world title at the iconic Alexandra Palace, after which he will retire from the sport.
Speaking to former world No 1 Rod Harrington for the PDC YouTube channel, the 52-year-old spoke about his battle to return to the top of his game since announcing his intention to retire in November 2018.
"When I play in exhibitions I feel relaxed with the crowd and want to show them what I can do - I want that Barney back," said Van Barneveld.
"But it's not been happening for three or four years and you need to be honest with yourself.
"When I was the best player in the world I beat Phil [Taylor] in the final and I let everyone know I was the best player in the world.
"Now, I'm realistic and I know I'm not the best player in the world anymore. I'm 52-years-old, I would've played on until 55 but my time has come."
"The crowd is always fantastic, they love me and they call my name everywhere I go. I will never, ever forget that," the Dutchman added.
"But the thing is you want to win things, you want to lift trophies - that's what I did in the past and that's still what I want to do.
"When you haven't won things for three to four years it gets in your system; you start to worry more, you doubt yourself and you don't want that life anymore.
"I'm a winner, the same as Phil Taylor, the same as Michael van Gerwen, I hate losing and for the last few years I don't win any competitions anymore."
I'm just going to keep practising and hopefully one day it will be there. I've only got four months left so hopefully it will be there soon.
Van Barneveld still has a chance to qualify for the World Grand Prix in October, while he will hope to give his beloved fans a royal send off at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam in November before his attention turns to the World Championship.
"I'm just going to keep practising and hopefully one day it will be there," Van Barneveld added. "I've only got four months left so hopefully it will be there soon.
"After I retire I'm going to stick to the exhibition circuit and I'm pretty sure I will always be in the darts world."
It's not long to wait until darts is back on Sky Sports, the World Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday, October 6 at Dublin's Citywest Arena and seven days of coverage continues until the final on Saturday, October 12.
