BARNEY AND DE ZWAAN COLLABORATION ENDS

By Aaron Nijjar  

JEFFREY DE ZWAAN believes his collaboration with Raymond van Barneveld under the same management was not a success.  

‘The Black Cobra’ once regarded as one of the brightest talents in darts, has reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay and claimed two PDC Players Championship titles.  

However, partly due to injury problems, the 28-year-old lost his PDC Tour Card early this year. 

Several years ago, he partnered with five-time World Champion Van Barneveld under the same management but the move did not work out to be the best choice.  

De Zwaan told the podcast Darts Draait Door: “He [Raymond van Barneveld] is someone who draws the energy to himself and demands things. I get snowed under quickly, I like everything led by myself. That has been to my disadvantage. 

“Raymond had to go to Q-School in the spring of 2021 to earn back his Tour Card and that was in the same period as the TV tournament The Masters, which De Zwaan competed in as a top player. 

“Iwe Kuitert was my coach in the years when things were going well, but that tournament he went with Raymond instead of me. I also said, ‘yeah yeah, fine.’ I may have been too easy about that.”  

Vincent van der Voort, who lost his PDC Tour Card alongside De Zwaan earlier this year, had foreseen the problems between the two.  

He said: “Jeffrey is not a talker, but in his head is that it is not good. Raymond is not someone who can play second fiddle. I said right away it would be difficult. Jeffrey got pushed away too much, but that is also a learning moment.” 

Despite this, De Zwaan refused to blame ‘Barney’ for his underwhelming performances in recent years. He added: “That’s also because I didn’t perform because of shoulder problems. That’s not Raymond’s fault. He is like that and is used to it being all about him.” 

Image by Taylor Lanning.