Grand Slam of Darts: Raymond van Barneveld never lost faith in darting gods as he prepares for quarter-final showdown with Gerwyn Price

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Fri November 18, 2022 · 2y ago

"Wow, when was the last time I was in a major quarter-final? I can't remember anymore!"

Click here for quarter-final tips

It was actually not that long ago - the 2019 Players Championship Finals to be precise - and one month later Raymond van Barneveld would retire from darts at the age of 52 following a first-round exit to Darin Young at the World Championship.

The legendary Dutchman had become frustrated about not being able to compete for the top prizes anymore and the stressful, tiring battle for ranking points in order to qualify for the majors.

Explaining his decision to retire back then, he told Sporting Life: "Being the peoples' champion is great but you can't buy bread with that prize. You want to lift trophies and the money involved in this game today. When I became 50 I said to myself let's try five more years but my body isn't capable of doing it every week. The trains, planes, automobiles, the pressure, diabetes, blurred vision, etc. On the practice board you're always at your best - 180s for breakfast, finishing so easy. But then on stage it never seems to happen.

"The standard is so high now and when you keep losing matches each week - in majors, Pro Tours or Euro events - it gets in your head and system and it'll all block. One day you stand up and you don't want the stress anymore and everything that comes with it. Some tournaments you beat MVG then lose to Gary Anderson - two weeks later you then beat Gary Anderson but then lose to Rob Cross. It never all comes together enough to win a trophy, which then puts you back in the top 10 and takes some pressure off again."

Barney had lost the love for the game but after one year away he was back, battling through Q School before remarkably winning his first ranking title since 2013 in the third Players Championship event of 2021.

Since then, it's been a bit of a struggle, suffering early exits at the five majors he qualified for over the past two years while he hasn't challenged enough on the Pro Tour and European Tour to get any higher than 50th on the Order of Merit.

But, despite the setbacks, van Barneveld has been enjoying the sport again and after coming through a last-gasp qualifying event to book his place in Wolverhampton, he's rolled back the years and breathed new life into the Barney Army.

The 2013 champion pulled off "one of the best wins of my career" against Gerwyn Price, who has only lost three of his 25 matches at the Aldersley Leisure Village, while victories over Dave Chisnall and Ted Evetts meant he topped the a group many expected him to finish third or bottom.

🙌 Who saw this coming?!

👊 Raymond van Barneveld rolls back the years to beat Gerwyn Price, who averaged 106!pic.twitter.com/WhYhTXu01d
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) November 13, 2022

As impressive as achieving maximum points was, question marks were raised about whether he'd be able to cope with the longer format after a lack of recent exposure to it.

But averaging 98 over 18 thrilling legs of high-quality darts against Simon Whitlock silenced those doubters.

🎯🙌 Raymond van Barneveld is STILL back!

👏 Barney rolls back the years to reach the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals for the first time since 2016!pic.twitter.com/01oheb1LUq
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) November 16, 2022

Barney admitted: "Being in a group with the world number one, a multiple ranking event winner and a former world youth champion was hard but after coming through that it's given me more belief I can go far. I've had some luck but we all need it.

👏 Raymond van Barneveld rolled back the years to beat Gerwyn Price in the groups and will now face him again in the quarter-finals on Friday.

🤞 Does Barney believe he can do it again? Win or lose, it's great to see @Raybar180 enjoying darts 'for the first time in many years'. pic.twitter.com/Z1UtDTVObj
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) November 17, 2022

"When you beat the world number one, what can you say. This man is incredible, especially on the big stage. He's won this tournament three times in the last four years so it was an amazing achievement.

"The longer format is not easy now due to energy levels and stamina. I'm a dinosaur now at the age of 55, Simon is 52 but we were still give the fans an entertaining match. The most important thing is always to hit your doubles, and I stayed focused enough to do it.

"For the first time in my life I'm really enjoying the sport. Even if I'd lost to Simon, I'd have congratulated him and enjoyed the night."

He's fully aware that taking Price over best-of-31 legs in a major quarter-final will be a whole new level of mental and physical toughness - while he may also need some assistance from the darting gods.

Barney said: "Beating Price again will be hard but if I play my A-game, I can beat everyone. That's what I believe in and I work really hard all the time. It hasn't been my year so far, but maybe it's suddenly starting now...in November!

"Sometimes, angels appear in the sky and help you - like they did at 8-8 against Simon and many times in the past - so I hope they can keep on coming down! I also know I have to keep working hard. My manager in Holland is always telling me to move my lazy arse and triggers me to put the practice in with Jeffrey de Zwaan.

"The crowd is always amazing, wherever I go except in Aberdeen once when they cheered for Gary Anderson and I wanted to go home to my mum! However, as much as they can always be on your side, you still have to focus and hit those doubles."

If he were to summon more darting magic and reach the semi-finals then the prize money of £30,000 would suddenly lift him into the world's top 32 and a seeding spot for the World Championship.

thanks to a sensational group-stage victory over Gerwyn Price which he branded as "one of the best wins of his career"

The five-time world champion said: "That was my goal as soon as I won the group. I said to my manager that the only way is up now, and reaching the semi-finals or final would see me in the top 32 again. There's also the Players Championship Finals next week but there's 64 of us there and I play my nightmare opponent Kim Huybrechts!

"Results-wise I've been struggling the past two years, scrapping for ranking points and only qualifying for three of this year's 13 European Tour events, which isn't good. I haven't played how I wanted and I've changed my set up many times. But I've changed it again and now I'm here in the quarter-finals. The belief is there that I can go all the way. If you believe then you can achieve anything.

Grand Slam of Darts: Group stage standings and results

Scoring System: Each competitor played each other once in a best-of-nine legs match, with two points going to the winner. The top two from each group progressed to the knockout stages.