World Darts Championship 2016: Raymond van Barneveld remembers easier days at the oche
Wednesday 16 December 2015 13:30, UK
Raymond van Barneveld believes the World Darts Championship is now tougher than ever, as he reflects on his five world title victories to date.
You can watch the Ally Pally event unfold live on Sky Sports from December 17-January 3 and the ever-popular Barney will be bidding for another trophy to put on his cramped mantelpiece.
He last won the World Darts Championship by defeating Phil 'The Power' Taylor in a legendary 2007 final - but that isn't his favourite of the five wins.
My favourite is definitely the first one because that changed my life. I gave up my work as a postman to become a full-time professional.
Barney told Sky Sports: "My favourite is definitely the first one because that changed my life. I gave up my work as a postman to become a full-time professional.
"My dream came true to be a darts player, and 16 years later I'm still here.
"I remember the amazing final against Phil, that was nearly 10 years ago. This will be my 10th PDC World Championship - when I won my first BDO world title, I won £32,000 and now it's almost 10 times the amount!
"Beating Phil in the 2007 final on the last leg was a precious moment. I had beaten Richie Burnett and Ronnie Baxter in back-to-back encounters too. It seems to me that it always has to be exciting matches!"
Van Barneveld's analysis is correct - perhaps it is his nature of being a maverick at the oche that regularly leads him to getting involved in back-and-forth barn-burners.
At last year's Ally Pally tournament, he recovered from an Adrian Lewis nine-darter to win their third-round match-up 4-3.
"Adrian hit an amazing nine-darter in the fifth leg," Barney recalled. "We walked off stage and that was a proud moment for me, I was so happy for him.
"I congratulated him. But if you asked Adrian, he would have preferred to have won the match rather than hit a nine-darter.
"The funny part is that I always beat people 6-5 or 10-9, it's always the same but I haven't got a clue why. Look at my last year's results, and how many times I won 4-3 or 3-2. It's not normal! Luckily for me, I'm winning but it costs a lot of energy and stress. Maybe my rhythm suits these games."
For a player whose first world title arrived in the dark ages of 1998, Van Barneveld is more than qualified to share his view on the changing landscape of darts.
He remembers a time when the top tournaments wouldn't spice up until the latter stages but, as he prepares to play Dirk van Duijvenbode in the opening round, he believes the talent pool is so deep that unfancied players are capable of causing shocks.
"I don't want to sound arrogant but, as a top-eight player, it used to be a lot easier to get through the first two rounds," he said.
"In those years, there would only be a couple of qualifiers. These days you have Keegan Brown, Rowby-John Rodriguez and Joe Cullen - really dangerous outsiders."
Live World Darts Championship
You can watch the PDC World Darts Championship live on Sky Sports between December 17-January 3.
Non-subscribers can also enjoy daily, weekly or monthly access to Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports other six channels contract-free with NOW TV.
