VAN BARNEVELD CONFESSES HE’S LOST HIS EDGE
27/09/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD fears his game is fading after another below-par display at the Swiss Darts Trophy.
The five-time world champ scraped past Swiss qualifier Ansh Sood 6-3 in Zurich but looked miles off the pace, averaging just 89.41, failing to land a maximum, and relying on a 120 checkout to drag himself over the line.
World No.34 Van Barneveld takes on Damon Heta in the last 32, having lost five of their last six meetings.
Van Barneveld admits he is struggling to keep up with the demands of the circuit.
He said: “With the crowd behind him you can’t do anything, and he was playing really well.
“I was happy that he missed the one dart at tops otherwise it would have been 4-4 and then you never know.
“But I made it 5-3 and then I had the throw and luckily for me I win the game. It was not a great game.
“Maybe because of all the travelling and the tournaments we do it costs energy. I’m not that young anymore.
“He is focused on the big Raymond van Barneveld right and I do not know what I get on stage. That is always hard.”
‘Barney’ has failed to go past the third round in his last 13 Euro Tour events and has made just ONE ProTour quarter-final all year.
But despite his personal woes, he insisted the Swiss stage has huge potential.
He added: “I think there is a lot of growth here in darts and in Switzerland.
“Sood played a good game. He needs to play and practice more. More players here in Switzerland need to play and practice more and then who knows.
“Stefan Bellmont is here later on, and he is a class player. It’s good for this venue and hopefully in the future many Swiss dart players come through.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
