Fans worry Raymond van Barneveld is ‘carried out’ after complete World Championship exit
Raymond van Barneveld has been dumped out of the World Darts Championship in the first round by Stefan Bellmont.
‘Barney’ was unable to match the brilliant level of Bellmont, losing the game 3-0 in sets and winning just two legs in the entire game. The five-time world champion is a legend of the sport but his fire has been fading in recent years.
Barney doesn’t hide his emotions on stage and the Dutchman was seen shaking his head dispondently a number of times as Bellmont reeled off big scores and clinical finishing.
Despite Van Barneveld actually having the higher average of 92.50 compared to the Swiss star’s 91.36, Bellmont’s scoring came at the better times, leading to him having 23 darts at the double in the game, clear of Barney’s eight attempts.
The 2007 PDC world champion initially announced his retirement in 2019, but reversed his decision the following day.
Barney has since tumbled down the rankings to No.35 and fans have shared their concerns about Van Barneveld’s ability to find any sort of comparison to his glory years.
One user feared: “Barney needs to consider retirement, he’s done and from his facial expression he knows it too.”
A second fan wrote: “Time to hang up the darts (…again).” While a third echoed: “Barney should’ve stayed retired.”
Another user added: “Time for Barney to retire.” A fifth said: “The end of Barney. Sad times. Finished now.” As a sixth wrote: “Fair play to Stefan. Outstanding, clinical. That performance could have given any of the top players a run. It happened to be Barney tonight.”
More to follow…
This is a breaking sports story and is being constantly updated with the latest news, pictures and videos. Please refresh the page regularly.
You can also get email updates on the day’s biggest sports stories straight to your inbox by signing up for our sports newsletter.
Get all the very best sports news, pictures, opinion and video by following Daily Star every time you see our name.
Follow Daily Star on Google News – CLICK HERE and click the star
Follow Daily Star on Apple News – CLICK HERE available on Apple devices
Follow Daily Star on Flipboard – CLICK HERE and click follow
You can also sign up for Twitter alerts for breaking news by following @DailyStar_Sport and follow us @dailystar for all the latest updates.
Keep up-to-date with your must-see sports stories, features, videos and pictures throughout the day by following us on Facebook at Daily Star Football | London
