An oche return! Raymond van Barneveld seals a winning World Darts Championship comeback after seeing off Lourence Ilagan in the first spherical, with former champion having U-turned on his retirement determination
- Raymond van Barneveld regained his PDC tour card in February after retiring
- A former world champion, Van Barneveld sealed the excellent return at Ally Pally
- He downed Lourence Illagan 3-0 to arrange a second-round conflict with Rob Cross
- Speaking after his win, the 54-year-old admitted it was a ‘privilege’ to be again
Raymond van Barneveld made a winning return to the PDC World Championship as the Dutchman noticed off Lourence Ilagan in the first spherical on Monday.
Former world champion Van Barneveld was again in motion in the Alexandra Palace showpiece having retired following his first-round exit at the palms of Darin Young in December 2019, introduced he had reversed the determination in September 2020 after which regained his PDC tour card in February.
The 54-year-old beat Filipino Ilagan 3-0 to arrange a second-round conflict with 2018 world champion Rob Cross.
Raymond van Barneveld made a winning return at the World Darts Championship on Monday
Former world champion Van Barneveld beat Lourence Ilagan to ease by the first spherical
Van Barneveld informed Sky Sports: ‘It’s a privilege to be again. I miss it and I had one aim, to be again right here. And right here it’s.
‘My final recreation was poor and I went residence and thought the crowd deserves higher. I by no means thought I used to be getting again, as a result of I used to be completed with darts, after which circumstances… after which this.
‘I knew Lourence is a good participant. He performed wonderful in the first leg (which Van Barneveld gained 3-1), he may have hit that after which the recreation may have been all totally different.
Filipino Ilagan could have been nervous, stated Van Barneveld, who will now face Rob Cross subsequent
The Dutchman stated it was a ‘privilege’ to function at the Alexandra Palace on Monday evening
‘But the crowd was at all times behind me and perhaps due to that Lourence was perhaps an excessive amount of nervous, I do not know.
‘I did not play my A-game tonight, I can play significantly better, however I gained and that is the solely factor that issues.’
Monday night additionally noticed James Wade document a 3-1 second-round victory over Maik Kuivenhoven, whereas Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and Luke Woodhouse superior from spherical one with 3-1 wins towards Ben Robb and James Wilson respectively.
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