EVANS DEFENDS BARNEVELD
22/03/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
RICKY EVANS has defended Raymond van Barneveld following their European Darts Trophy meeting at Göttingen.
Former UK Open semi-finalist Evans beat the Dutchman 6-4 in round one.
The 34-year-old averaged a stellar 95.55 and hit a brilliant 108 checkout in the match.
‘Rapid’ was emotional after the victory, which came just weeks after the death of his younger sister.
World No. 44 Evans burst into tears after clinching victory, but Barneveld’s reaction was a subdued one.
Evans, however, insisted there’s no bad blood between the pair as he spoke about the support he has received privately from the five-time World champion during a difficult period.
He wrote on Facebook: “Hi all. I’m seeing Raymond get a lot of unnecessary hate on social media, and I just wanted to address this.
“Raymond was the first person to come up to me in Leicester at the recent Pro Tour events to offer his sympathy for my recent bad news, and I love and respect him massively.
“We have spoken this morning, and he wished me well for the rest of the tournament.
“There is no bad blood or issue at all between us, we both just wanted to win last night.”
Ahead of his meeting with Barneveld, Evans wrote “This one’s for you, sis” on social media.
He had paid an emotional tribute to sister Elisha following her sudden death less than a month ago and only returned to the oche in mid-March.
Evans returns to action today (Saturday) and faces Dave Chisnall in round two of the European Darts Trophy.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
