Raymond van Barneveld insists he's good enough to win one more World Darts Championship
Raymond van Barneveld insists he still has the ability to win one more world title in his final two attempts before his intended retirement.
Last month, the Dutch legend announced he'll retire at the end of the 2019/2020 PDC World Darts Championship but has no intention of letting his career fizzling out over the next 13 months.
Read also
- World Darts Championship draw & schedule
- Chris Hammer's best bets & preview
- John Part's predictions & best bets
Van Barneveld is one of only three plays to be crowned world champion five times having won the BDO's Lakeside crown four times (1998, 1999, 2003, 2004) prior to landing the PDC version at the first attempt in 2007 thanks to that unforgettable triumph over Phil Taylor.
WHAT A FINAL...
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 10, 2017
The 2007 World Darts Championship final - the last at the Circus Tavern - really had it all.
Absolute drama in the last leg shootout as Raymond van Barneveld clinched his fifth world title!
FOUR DAYS TO GO! 🎯🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/rJnNQL61wQ
Since then a sixth world title has eluded him while he hasn't won an individual televised major since the 2014 Premier League Darts title.
However three semi-final appearance from 2015-2017 and last year's run to the quarter-finals, where he lost 5-4 to Michael van Gerwen, shows he can still perform on the biggest of all stages.
The 51-year-old, who hit the first PDC World Championship nine-darter in 2009 before hitting a second one year later, told www.pdc.tv: "I absolutely believe I can still be World Champion again in one of my last two attempts. If you told me after my 2007 World Championship win over Phil [Taylor] that it would be my last World Championship then I would’ve said you were a fool, but in the last few years we have seen phenomenal players playing at an outstanding level.
“My grandmother always said ‘if you believe then you can achieve anything you want’ and I still believe I can do this, but not for many more years.”
NINE DAYS TO GO!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 4, 2018
No better way to celebrate than a look at the first nine-darter at the PDC World Darts Championship, as @Raybar180 landed this effort!
A moment in history! pic.twitter.com/3DBfS5s7Ro
"I don’t want my career to fizzle out because I still think I've got another one or two titles left in me.”
Van Barneveld, who has also won two UK Opens (2006, 2007) and the 2012 Grand Slam of Darts and four World Cups among his 29 PDC titles, admits his lack of tournament success these days was the primary reason behind his decision to retire.
"I noticed in myself that I can’t keep up anymore, 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]," added Barney.
"I'm not winning tournaments anymore, 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 percent anymore - I don’t have the drive, motivation or fitness to carry on.
"When I retire I will be 52 and I’m really looking to spending time with my family. I'm a winner, that’s what I do – I lift trophies but I can’t do it anymore. Maybe there are still a couple of titles left in me and that would be amazing but I can’t do this every week anymore.”
🎯 As well as winning all this...
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) November 19, 2018
🏆 PDC World Champion
🏆 Grand Slam of Darts
🏆 Premier League
🏆🏆 2x UK Open
🏆🏆🏆🏆 4x BDO World champion
🙌 Raymond van Barneveld also hit TWO nine-darters on the world championship stage! pic.twitter.com/YPiz5IoOTG
MOST READ
Next Off
Fixtures & Results
