Raymond van Barneveld opens up on ‘frightening time’ ahead of world championship

Raymond van Barneveld has opened up on the private points which introduced him into retirement in addition to the ‘scary time’ that he collapsed on the Players Championship following his return to darts. 

The Dutchman is ready to affix Steve Beaton as one of simply two gamers to characteristic in 30 world championships – of which he has received 5.

He has had a latest spectacular surge together with a semi-final exhibiting on the Grand Slam of Darts which helped transfer him again into the highest 32 within the rankings ahead of the PDC World Darts Championship which begins at Alexandra Palace immediately. 

Raymond van Barneveld is ready to grow to be one of simply two to play in 30 world championships

Opening up about his retirement following a first-round exit within the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship to American Darin Young, he instructed the Guardian: ‘There was an excessive amount of going on in my head.

‘I used to be breaking up with my ex-wife and I wasn’t completely happy. I wasn’t taking part in effectively and I used to be a nightmare for the folks round me.’

As beforehand reported Van Barneveld and his ex-wife Silvia,  cut up up in January 2019 and their divorce got here after Silvia appeared in court docket to provide proof concerning the armed housebreaking of their household residence in The Hague, Netherlands.

She was reportedly threatened with a gun through the incident and overwhelmed, earlier than ultimately fleeing bare right into a bush to flee the burglars.

Van Barneveld separated from his ex-wife Sylvia (left) again in January 2019

Her former husband had been away at an exhibition match on the time.

‘I used to be at an exhibition in Scotland when three guys broke into my home at 6.15am on a Saturday when my spouse was residence alone,’ he revealed.

‘She had a loaded gun held at her head. I can not forgive myself that I wasn’t there for her. She is afraid to dwell in the home.’

Van Barneveld was pictured in May that yr with a brand new British girlfriend Julia Evans. 

He proposed to Evans in Paris in February earlier this yr. 

His choice to retire from the game got here in December 2019, earlier than he made a U-turn the next September.

Van Barneveld proposes to his fiancee Julia Evans in Paris again in February this yr

The 55-year-old missed the excitement, at a time the place he may do little as a result of Covid pandemic, which led to his return.

He mentioned: ‘That’s what I missed once I retired. Suddenly you had been simply plain outdated Raymond van Barneveld, and never the darts participant everybody knew. I wished it again, since you really feel like you’ll be able to’t dwell with out all of the hype and a focus. It’s good.’

It was six months after his choice that the darts legend collapsed on the Players Championship  in Milton Keynes in March 2021.

He grew to become unwell after being defeated within the first spherical of the PDC Super Series 2 occasion on the Marshall Arena 1-6 by Ryan Searle. He needed to be put within the restoration place by paramedics however didn’t want hospital remedy. 

Van Barneveld’s supervisor, Ben de Kok, instructed Dutch outlet AD that the five-time world champion collapsed after watching compatriot Jeffrey de Zwaan’s recreation, and was put within the restoration place by paramedics.

Van Barneveld has needed to overcome private difficulties in his life in addition to well being scares

Van Barneveld collapsed through the Players Championship in Milton Keynes in March final yr

Van Barneveld mentioned: ‘The yr off was good as a result of I may loosen up, however as a result of of the pandemic I could not actually do a lot. So I missed the excitement. Then I collapsed, my mum and pop acquired [Covid-19] after which I collapsed once more a pair of months later. It was a daunting time.’

His supervisor advised that the collapse could also be associated to the diabetes or coronary heart illness. The Dutchman was identified with Type 2 diabetes in 2009, and has stored a strict health regime through the years.

The veteran has labored his method again into the world’s high 32 meaning he has a bye within the first spherical at Ally Pally. 

Van Barneveld joins Steve Beaton as the one gamers to compete in 30 world championships

He will face both Ryan Meikle or four-time ladies’s world champion Lisa Ashton in Round 2. 

Despite surging again up the rankings, and his run to the semi-final of the Grand Slam of Darts final month, Van Barneveld has described his final two years as ‘actually mediocre.’ 

He mentioned: ‘When I used to be within the high 4 of the world, all the things seemed simpler since you had been qualifying for each huge match. Now, I’m barely qualifying for majors.

‘But there isn’t any strain on me right here. I’m over the moon I did effectively on the Grand Slam and I confirmed the entire world I’m nonetheless ready to do that. I’m exhibiting I can play effectively and I do not worry anybody.’