Daily Times

LONDON: Five-time world darts champion Raymond van Barneveld says he will retire after the 2020 PDC World Championship. The 51-year-old Dutchman, known widely as ‘Barney’, is one of only three players to win five world titles. He won the British Darts Organisation (BDO) title in 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2005 before moving to the Professional Darts Corporation and beating Phil Taylor in the 2007 final. “I noticed in myself that I can’t keep up any more,” said Van Barneveld. “I know what I can do but it’s just not been happening for the past three or four years, apart from winning the World Cup with Michael [van Gerwen].

“Next year is going to be my 35th year of playing darts at the highest level and it’s going to be my last year. I’m not winning tournaments any more. I don’t know why but a lot of things have happened in my private life and I’ve also noticed that my body isn’t feeling 100% any more. I don’t have the drive, motivation or fitness to carry on. I’m a winner, that’s what I do – I lift trophies but I can’t do it any more. Maybe there are still a couple of titles left in me and that would be amazing — but I can’t do this every week. This sport brought me everything I could hope for and I will always be grateful for that.” Van Barneveld has won 29 PDC titles over his career, including two UK Opens, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Premier League. He also became the first player to achieve a nine-dart finish in both the Premier League in 2006 and the PDC World Championship three years later. This year’s World Championship – Van Barneveld’s penultimate chance to win a sixth world title – starts at Alexandra Palace on 13 December, with the final taking place on 1 January 2019.

Published in Daily Times, November 20^th 2018.