Raymond van Barneveld

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Raymond van Barneveld

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Raymond van Barneveld
Personal information
Full name Raymond van Barneveld
Nickname Barney
Born (1967-04-20) 20 April 1967 (age 45)
The Hague, Netherlands
Home town

The Hague
Netherlands

Height- 189cm
Darts information
Playing darts since 1984
Darts 25g Unicorn
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1990 - 2006
PDC 2006 - present
Current world ranking 8
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship Winner 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005
World Masters Winner 2001, 2005
World Darts Trophy Winner 2003, 2004
Int. Darts League Winner 2003, 2004, 2006
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship Winner 2007
World Matchplay Runner Up 2010
World Grand Prix Runner Up 2008, 2009
Grand Slam Semi Finalist 2009
Premier League Semi Finalist 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
Desert Classic Winner 2007
European Ch'ship Semi Finalist 2011
UK Open Winner 2006, 2007
US Open/WSoD Runner Up 2007
Players Ch'ship Finals Quarter Finalist 2009
Other tournament wins
Tournament Years
Belgium Open
Brandstaff Masters
British Open
Canadian Open
Denmark Open
Dutch Open
Finnish Open
Holland National Championships
Masters of Darts
Northern Ireland Open
Norway Open
Open Holland Masters
Pacific Masters
Spring Cup

Swedish Open
Swiss Open
Untouchables
WDF Europe Cup Pairs
WDF World Cup Pairs
World Cup of Darts
World Darts Challenge
World Pairs

Players Championships
Players Ch'ship (DER)
Players Ch'ship (GER)
Players Ch'ship (GIB)
Players Ch'ship (HAY)
Players Ch'ship (LAV)
Players Ch'ship (WAL)

UK Open Regionals
UK Open Regional (IRE)
UK Open Regional (MID)
UK Open Regional (NEE)
UK Open Regional (SCO)
Uk Open Qualifier
1996, 1999
1999
1999
1998
1997
2001, 2004, 2006
1995, 2004
2004

2007
2004
1997
2008
2005
1991, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001
1998, 2002, 2003
2000
2010
2000, 2004
2005
2010
2007
1997


2011
2007
2007
2006
2007
2007


2006, 2007

2006

2007

2006

2012, 2012
Other achievements

1997, 1998 Haagse Sportprijs
1998 BDO Personality Award
1998, 1999 Haaglanden Sportprijs
1999 Major citizen of The Hague
1999 Named in the Order of Orange-Nassau
2002 Nine dart finish European Darts Ch'ships Mechelen
2003 Nine dart finish Swiss Open
2003 I.D.P.A. Leighton Rees Men's Player of the Year Award
2004 Haagse Publieksprijs
2006 Nine dart finish Premier League of Darts
2006 Best Newcomer, PDC Awards
2006 Fans' Player of the Year, PDC Awards
2007 Nine dart finish German Darts Championship
2008 Became PDC World number 1
2008 Best Floor Player, PDC Awards
2009 First ever nine dart finish in the PDC World Championship
2009 Nine dart finish, UK Open Regional (WM)
2010 Nine dart finish, PDC World Championship
2010 Nine dart finish, PDC Premier League Darts
2010 Nine dart finish, PDC World Matchplay

2012 Sets his highest ever televised average of 112.28 whilst playing in the Premier League[1]
Updated on 6 April 2012.

Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967 in The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation. Nicknamed Barney, he is a five time World Darts Champion (4 time BDO World Champion and 1 time PDC World Champion), a two time UK Open Champion and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic. He has also won the World Masters twice, the World Darts Trophy three times and the International Darts League twice. From January to June 2008, he was the world number one ranked player, but currently, as of December 2011, he is 8th in the PDC Order of Merit.

His victory in the 2007 PDC final, added to his four previous BDO Championships brought him level with Eric Bristow as a five-time world champion, he is one of only three players in darts history to achieve this. He is the most successful Dutch darts player ever, and has a significant effect in putting the game of darts on the map in the Netherlands.

Contents

BDO career

Van Barneveld's first World Championship appearance came in 1991 playing in the Embassy World Championship at the Lakeside Country Club, but his first round match ended in a 0-3 defeat to Australian Keith Sullivan.

He started to make some progress on the British Darts Organisation circuit, reaching the quarter-finals of the Belgian Open in September 1990 and the German Open in March 1991. His first semi-final came at the Swiss Open in June 1991.

He failed to qualify for the World Championship in 1992, but made it back to Lakeside in 1993, which would be the last time that a unified World Championship would be staged. Van Barneveld lost in a close match 2-3 to John Lowe, who would go on to win the championship. Shortly after the 1993 World Final, the top players in the game at the time formed the World Darts Council (WDC, now the PDC) and left the BDO.

Van Barneveld continued to make progress in the BDO Open events in 1994 after the split, reaching the quarter-finals at the Dutch Open and Berlin Open, the semi-final at the Belgium Open and his first final, at the Finnish Open where he lost to Andy Fordham.

He continued his good run of form into the 1995 World Championship by putting out Les Wallace, Dave Askew, Colin Monk and Martin Adams to reach his first World Final. But it ended in defeat 3-6 to Welshman Richie Burnett.

After second round defeats in 1996 and 1997, the former postman took his first world title in 1998 by beating Burnett in a repeat of the 1995 final. This match however is often listed amongst the greatest of all-time having reached 5-5 in sets Van Barneveld finally took the title by winning the final set 4-2 in legs on double 8.

He successfully defended the trophy one year later by the same winning margin, this time against Ronnie Baxter of England. This made him only the second player in the tournament's history to have launched a successful defence of his title; the other being Eric Bristow. Martin Adams would later also achieve this feat.

His run of success ended in the first round in 2000, crashing out to Chris Mason, who averaged 100 and ended Van Barneveld's hopes of a hat-trick of titles.

Van Barneveld lost in the quarter-finals in 2001 (4-5 to Ted Hankey) and 2002 (3-5 to Mervyn King) before returning to the final in 2003. He clinched his third world title by beating Ritchie Davies of Wales 6-3.

His 2004 campaign ended in the semi-finals, when Andy Fordham beat him 5-4 in another memorable match.

A fourth title followed in 2005. He never dropped a set in the first three rounds as he beat Gary Anderson, Mike Veitch and Vincent van der Voort. A 5-3 semi-final win over Darryl Fitton and 6-2 triumph over Martin Adams of England in the final brought him that fourth title.

Van Barneveld reached his sixth final in 2006, and was aiming to equal Bristow's record of five BDO world titles. On this occasion however, his hopes were ended by 21 year-old fellow countryman Jelle Klaasen who prevailed 7-5.

He has also won the prestigious Winmau World Masters title twice: once in 2001 when he recorded a win in the final over Jarkko Komula of Finland and again in 2005 when he beat Goran Klemme in the final. Other major darts tournaments that he has won at least twice include The World Darts Trophy and The International Darts League.

Van Barneveld is naturally left handed, but he throws darts with his right hand.

PDC career

After playing in the BDO for fifteen years, winning four World Championships, Van Barneveld announced his move from the BDO to the PDC on 15 February 2006. He cited his reasons as wanting a greater challenge, and regularly playing against players like Phil Taylor.[2] He had an incredible first year in the PDC, having started from scratch in the rankings. Within twelve months he had reached World number two and became World Champion.

His PDC debut came in the 2006 Premier League competition. He won his first match convincingly 8-1 against Baxter. On March 23, he hit his first televised nine dart finish and faced Taylor later in the same night, fighting back for a 7-7 draw. The re-match came on Van Barneveld's 39th birthday, but this time Taylor won the deciding leg for an 8-6 victory. Van Barneveld suffered a surprise 11-3 semi-final defeat in the Premier League to fellow Dutchman Roland Scholten.

Van Barneveld then started a very successful run with a 13-5 final victory over Colin Lloyd in the final of the International Darts League for his 11th BDO Grand Slam tournament. He won his first major PDC title in June by beating Barrie Bates in the final of the UK Open at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton. Earlier in the day, he beat Taylor in the quarter-finals, accomplishing one of his dreams which he announced after switching to the PDC. Van Barneveld beat Taylor again just weeks later in the semi-finals of the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic. He lost 6-3 to Canadian John Part in the final the following day.

Soon after this Van Barneveld made alterations to his game, he changed darts and began using the "stacking" technique used by Taylor. The darts used were a gram lighter than his old ones and cost the equivalent of £1 from a local store in Holland.

After losing in the first round of the 2006 Bavaria World Trophy to fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen, Van Barneveld acknowledged that he needed to work on his finishing throws. Although he played well in the Sky Bet World Grand Prix, he lost to Phil Taylor in the second round.

Taylor and Van Barneveld met again in the 2007 PDC World Championship final, in a match which Taylor later described as the best final he had been involved in. From three sets down, Van Barneveld came back to beat Taylor 7-6 in the sudden death leg in one of the greatest darts matches of all time to match Bristow's record of five world titles.[3] In February 2007, Van Barneveld won the 2007 Masters of Darts tournament by beating Peter Manley 7-0 in sets in the final with a 107 three dart average. His success has also continued away from the cameras.

In the 2007 Premier League Darts, he never fared as well as he did in 2006, losing to Taylor twice, Dennis Priestley and Lloyd in the group section. He did however manage to finish second but lost an exciting but error filled encounter 10-11 to Terry Jenkins in the semi-final.

Van Barneveld made amends for his disappointing Premier League campaign however by inflicting one of Taylor's heaviest defeats (11-4) in the quarter-final of the 2007 UK Open and went on to successfully defend his title beating Lloyd 11-4 in the semi-final and van der Voort in the final 16-8. In doing this, Van Barneveld became the first person to successfully defend the UK Open crown. A month later, he continued his surge of major titles by beating Jenkins 13 legs to 6 in the final of the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic. Van Barneveld's dream of winning the five major PDC tournament titles in 2007- the World Championship, UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix ended when he was defeated by Adrian Lewis 16 legs to 14 in the quarter finals of the World Matchplay in Blackpool.

His haul of titles in the PDC has continued to grow since his switch. In addition to his four major titles (the World Championship, two UK Open Championships and the Vegas Desert Classic) - he has added eleven non-televised PDC Pro Tour titles (five UK Open Regionals and six Players Championships).

2008 proved to be Van Barneveld's most barren year thus far in the PDC in terms of success, with him not winning a major tournament. His defence of the World Championship crown was seriously thwarted by a bout of flu. He managed to win his first two matches quite comfortably, although nearly had to retire during his 2nd round match due to breathing problems. He was defeated by Kevin Painter in the 3rd round by 4 sets to 2. Following his disappointment, he reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Premier League Darts, but was defeated for the third consecutive year at this stage of the tournament, defeated by James Wade. He was also knocked out of the early stages of the US Open, the Las Vegas Desert Classic by Alan Tabern and in the semi-finals of the UK Open by Gary Mawson, after having defeated rival Taylor by 10 legs to 9 a round earlier. He was also defeated in the quarter finals of the World Matchplay by Wayne Mardle. However, he did regain some form in the World Grand Prix reaching the final of the tournament, before being defeated by Taylor by 6 sets to 2. He also suffered a quarter-final embarrassment at the hands of Lewis in the quarter-finals of the inaugural European Darts Championship in November losing by 9 legs to 2.

Van Barneveld threw another televised nine dart finish in the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship in his quarter-final match against fellow Dutchman Klaasen on 2 January 2009. Van Barneveld hit two maximum 180s before nailing treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to complete his nine-darter in the second leg of the sixth set.[4] The feat earned Van Barneveld £20,000 – the bonus had not been won since Taylor's nine-darter at the UK Open against Jamie Harvey – as he became the first player to throw a perfect leg in the PDC World Championship. Van Barneveld went on to win the match 5-1, with a three-dart 161 finish, and then won his semi-final against Wade. However, he suffered a heavy 7-1 defeat to Taylor in the final. As a result of his failure to defend the £100,000 he won at the 2007 World Championship (his runner-up position earned him £60,000) he dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the PDC Order of Merit.

Van Barneveld threw his fourth nine dart finish in the Blue Square UK Open West Midlands Regional on 29 March 2009 in the third round against Kirk Shepherd. Barney only earned £400 for this as Mervyn King snapped up the £4,000 bonus on 28 March 2009 at the Coventry Players Championship with a nine dart finish.

In the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Barney returned to form, losing narrowly to Phil Taylor 13-11 in the final. After the game, Barney took the microphone from Sky Sports presenter Dave Clark, and gave a speech about Phil Taylor.

After his quarter final World Matchplay defeat to Terry Jenkins, Van Barneveld took another sabbatical from darts. He declined entries for the Championship of Darts and the South African Masters. There was speculation Van Barneveld was considering retiring from the sport, however he stated after his first round win in the 2009 World Grand Prix over Alan Tabern that he was suffering from diabetes and his absence was in order to get fit and healthy and going to the gym. He also attributed the diabetes towards his form in major tournaments.

On 28 December 2009, he hit another nine-darter in the second round of the PDC World Championship against Brendan Dolan, becoming the first player to hit two nine-dart finishes in the PDC World Championship.[5] He went on to reach the semi finals before losing 6-5 to Simon Whitlock. He also lost the third-place play-off 10-8 in legs to Mark Webster.

On 29 April 2010, Van Barneveld hit another nine-darter against Terry Jenkins at the 2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts in Aberdeen.[6] This came during a poor Premier League campaign in which he only finished in sixth place. During the Premier League, Barney said that he was suffering from personal problems back home, and claimed that he and his family were being blackmailed. He failed to qualify for the 2010 UK Open, having only entered one of the eight qualifying events (only players who enter three or more events are eligible to qualify).

His next nine-darter came in the first round of the 2010 World Matchplay in Blackpool, against Denis Ovens on 17 July 2010. He went on to reach his first ever World Matchplay final, where he lost 18-12 to Phil Taylor.

2011

At the 2011 World Championship he lost in the quarter-finals to an in form Gary Anderson.

The 2011 Premier league of darts saw a slight return of form after he hit 4 100+ finishes and defeated Simon Whitlock 8-3 with a 100.15 average. He went on to win his next match against Adrian Lewis 8-6, before losing to Phil Taylor in their much anticipated match, 3-8. In week 6 he defeated Mark Webster 8-4 with a high average of 100.98 and also hit a 161 checkout.He went on to defeat Gary Anderson 8-5 in week 7 with an average of 101.44

On the day of his first round match in the 2011 World Matchplay darts Barney received a shock when he lost his darts. He contacted his sponsors with a S.O.S which meant they had to contact the closest supplier to deliver a new set for him. He received the set with no problems and used them to defeat Steve Brown 10-3 averaging 95.56.

The 2011 Uk Open saw Barneveld progress to the fifth round of the competition where he was defeated by an on form Wes Newton who was eventual runner up 9-1[7]

2012

van Barneveld was the victim of one of the biggest upsets in PDC World Championship history in 2012. He lost 0-3 in the first round to world number 85, James Richardson, winning just 4 legs during the match.[8] He teamed up with Vincent van der Voort for the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts to try to defend the title van Barneveld won with Co Stompé in 2010. Together they enjoyed comfortable victories over Austria and Northern Ireland to set up a semi-final clash with the Australian pair of Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock. Van Barneveld beat Nicholson 4–0 in their singles match, but this was the only point the Dutch won as they relinquished their crown in a 1–5 defeat.[9]

van Barneveld was a Sky Sports pick for the Premier League.[10] During the tournament he produced his highest ever televised average of 112.28 whilst defeating Kevin Painter 8–6.[1]. He went into the final round of matches knowing a win over James Wade would secure him a place in the play-offs, but could only manage to draw the match 7–7 to finish 5th in the table, out of the play-off places on leg difference.[11]

van Barneveld won the UK Open Qualifier 5 by beating Andy Smith 6–3 in the final, after earlier overcoming the likes of Simon Whitlock and Terry Jenkins. He also hit a nine-dart finish in his third round match against Michael Barnard.[12] He completed a weekend double by winning Event 6 a day later after defeating Ian White 6–2 in the final.[13]

Barney Army

Van Barneveld now gets chants of 'Barney Army', which is a play on the supporters of the England cricket team's nickname 'Barmy Army' as a result of the Dutchman's extreme popularity since he joined the PDC in early 2006. Van Barneveld has a close relationship with his fans, shown regularly at the end of Premier League events when his fans will all chant "Barney, give us a wave" and he always responds with a wave and a smile. He has regularly praised the fans of the Premier League. While he does get a good reception at most venues, his loudest and most positive is usually on the Scottish legs of the Premier League where the three most popular English players - Phil Taylor Adrian Lewis and James Wade - aren't so popular.

Outside of darts

In 2012, van Barneveld, together with the seven other players who competed in the 2012 Premier League Darts recorded a charity single with Chas Hodges and his band called 'Got My Tickets For The Darts' which was written by Chas. It was released exclusively on iTunes on 18 May, the night after the play-offs at the O2 in London, where it was premiered. Proceeds from the single will be donated to the Haven House Children's Hospice.[14]

World Championship Results

BDO

PDC

Majors

World Championship

Winner (5)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1998 BDO World Darts Championship Wales Richie Burnett 6-5
1999 BDO World Darts Championship England Ronnie Baxter 6-5
2003 BDO World Darts Championship Wales Ritchie Davies 6-3
2005 BDO World Darts Championship England Martin Adams 6-2
2007 PDC World Darts Championship England Phil Taylor 7-6

World Masters

Winner (2)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2001 Winmau World Masters Finland Jarkko Komula 4-2
2005 Winmau World Masters Sweden Göran Klemme 7-3

PDC performance timeline

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
PDC World Championship DNP W 3R RU SF QF 1R
World Matchplay DNP QF QF QF RU QF
World Grand Prix 2R SF RU RU SF 2R
Las Vegas Desert Classic RU W 2R RU Not held
UK Open W W SF 5R DNP 5R
Premier League Darts SF SF SF SF RR SF RR
Grand Slam of Darts NH 2R QF SF 2R RR
US Open NH RU 4R Did not play NH
German Darts Championship NH QF 5R SF Not held
European Championship Not held QF 2R QF SF
Players Championship Finals Not held QF Did not play
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play in the event #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF advanced to but not past the quarterfinals
SF advanced to but not past the semi–finals F advanced to the final, tournament runner-up W won the tournament

References

  1. ^ a b "McCoy's PLD Night Nine". PDC. 5 April 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2725096,00.html. Retrieved 6 April 2012. 
  2. ^ Van Barneveld's reasons for switching to PDC
  3. ^ "Set-by-set: Taylor 6-7 Van Barneveld". BBC Sport. 1 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/darts/6223633.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2010. 
  4. ^ "Nine-darter helps Barney to semis". BBC Sport. 2 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/darts/7809177.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2010. 
  5. ^ "Raymond van Barneveld hits second PDC nine-dart finish". BBC Sport. 28 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/darts/8432956.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2010. 
  6. ^ Barney's Nine-Dart Joy Planetdarts
  7. ^ http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2371610,00.html
  8. ^ "Barney rumbled at the Palace". Sky Sports. December 18, 2011. http://www.skysports.com/darts/pdc/story/0,25061,15623_7386179,00.html. Retrieved December 18, 2011. 
  9. ^ "Cash Converters World Cup Semi-Finals Round-Up". PDC. 5 February 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2601043,00.html. Retrieved 7 February 2012. 
  10. ^ "Hamilton & Painter's Premier Delight". PDC. 3 January 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2565358,00.html. Retrieved 6 April 2012. 
  11. ^ "McCoy's PLD Night 14". PDC. 11 May 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2767653,00.html. Retrieved 12 May 2012. 
  12. ^ "Nine-Dart Barney's Barnsley Win". PDC. 14 April 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2735163,00.html. Retrieved 14 April 2012. 
  13. ^ "Brilliant Barney's Barnsley Double". PDC. 15 April 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2736139,00.html. Retrieved 16 April 2012. 
  14. ^ "Chas & Stars Record Charity Single". Planet Darts. 8 March 2012. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2641173,00.html. 

External links

Preceded by
Les Wallace
BDO World Champion
1998-1999
Succeeded by
Ted Hankey
Preceded by
Tony David
BDO World Champion
2003
Succeeded by
Andy Fordham
Preceded by
Andy Fordham
BDO World Champion
2005
Succeeded by
Jelle Klaasen
Preceded by
Phil Taylor
PDC World Champion
2007
Succeeded by
John Part

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