BARNEY IN CRISIS AFTER ALLY PALLY HUMILIATION

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD has confessed his humiliating Ally Pally defeat has left deep scars and thrown his future into doubt.

‘Barney’ could only muster two legs in a brutal 3-0 first-round defeat to world No111 Stefan Bellmont at the World Championship.

The Dutch legend looked a shadow of his former self on the sport’s biggest stage and struggled to find any rhythm as the contest slipped away from him.

Van Barneveld later admitted the loss had hurt deeply and revealed he had no answers for his alarming dip in form.

He said: “I’m out. It has been a very poor year for me. I need to regroup myself. It’s very difficult to answer what’s next.

“On the practice board I’m a five-time World Champion, maybe even ten-time.

“But during the matches it just is not going my way. And why not? I don’t know. I can’t answer that, really.

“Of course, this hurts. It’s the second time in a row this happens to me. I wonder by myself how to go on.

“I wonder what to do because suffering every week from all the defeats is not what I want. That’s obvious.

“He doesn’t even have a Tour Card and to only win two legs, that says it all. I have got homework to do and have to find out what to do next. But, this one hurts, that’s obvious.”

After returning from retirement in 2022, Van Barneveld has managed to win just ONE title on tour, claiming Players Championship 5 last year.

Van Barneveld’s last major semi-final appearance came at the 2022 Grand Slam, with a series of early exits following since.

World No35 Van Barneveld voiced his frustration at being unable to take his practice form into the biggest events on the circuit.

He added: “I thought I had a nice draw. That’s what everybody was telling me before the game. Everybody was wrong. He played a great match. He deserved to win this match.

“Whenever I was practicing at my office I played really well. It’s so frustrating that in practice I hit a 140 and a 180 every time.

“The only problem is with practicing you play your own rhythm. That’s different from a match. I noticed he was really slow. I knew that but that made me go out of my own rhythm and missed the doubles.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.