Van Barneveld calls his form worrying: 'Then you're at the bottom and that's where you belong'

In constrast to his two matches ahead of the clash with Smith, where the Dutchman ended up with a draw after becoming 5-1 down, Van Barneveld started well on Thursday evening. He came 3-1 ahead after checking out 76 twice. ''I went downhill after 3-1 and Michael took profit of that and then you are behind. He hit a good finish and then Smith is throwing for the match at 6-4. I couldn't play my game, hit no 180's and it didn't feel good'', the five-time world champion told Dutch broadcaster RTL 7. Smith had undergone an urgent surgery on Monday. Although Smith stumbled across the stage at times, there was not much wrong with his performance. The St Helens ace almost averaged 99 and hit 70 percent on the doubles. ''Smith is a fantastic player and you see how easy he hit his doubles. If you don't score well and don't keep pace with his average, it's very simple: then you're at the bottom and that's where you belong.'' ''I don't want to relegate but also want to make the play offs. It's easy to say I should beat players, but I'm number 29 of the world. I try and I try and yet I'm surprised about my own game. It's not consistent and it has been worrying for a while.''