VAN BARNEVELD STILL BAFFLED BY TAYLOR ROW

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD still has no idea why his explosive handshake with Phil Taylor turned sour after their World Championship classic.

The five-time world champion insists he was only trying to congratulate Taylor after losing their Ally Pally semi-final back in 2012.

Former world No1 Taylor edged out Van Barneveld 6-4 in a thrilling clash before the pair were involved in a heated exchange at the end of the match.

The flashpoint came after Taylor hit double 16 to seal the victory and book his place in the final against a young Michael van Gerwen.

As the pair went to shake hands on stage Van Barneveld held on to Taylor’s hand for longer than expected, leaving The Power visibly frustrated.

Taylor turned back towards his opponent as the moment quickly became heated, with the two exchanging words before eventually walking away.

Van Barneveld insists he was only trying to congratulate his great rival and still does not understand why the moment escalated.

He told the Darts Show: “I still don’t know what happened there. You’d have to ask Phil.

“Well, what happened was I congratulated him on the victory and wished him all the best in the final.

“But it irritated me that I shook his hand and he put his head away from me like he wouldn’t look at me.

“So I pulled him back. I said, ‘Hey, I just want to…’

“Then he started pushing me. I don’t know what. I don’t know why. I still don’t know, so I can’t give an answer to that question.

“But it looked not good.”

Following the incident, Taylor was investigated by the Darts Regulation Authority over his conduct, but they ultimately decided to take no further action.

He later apologised and said: "Raymond's a big lad and he has a strong handshake, and when he pulled me, it hurt me.

"I reacted wrongly and I'm ashamed of that because I really like Raymond I'm gutted about what happened.

"It's upset a lot of people and it's also upset me. I've contacted Raymond to apologise to him and hopefully we can put it behind us now.

"I'm very close to Raymond, he's a great competitor and it was something that happened in the heat of the moment."

Words: Aaron Nijjar