"A guy who can play like Phil Taylor!" - Raymond van Barneveld full of praise for Luke Littler ahead of Amsterdam showdown

Raymond van Barneveld has very easily qualified for the second round of the 2024 World Series of Darts Finals. In front of his own audience at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, 'Barney' was too strong for the Swede Johan Engström, 6-0, and now faces Luke Littler in the last sixteen.

Van Barneveld achieved over 95 average while his opponent stayed under 85. "The crowd are always backing me because in their mind, I'm a legend - but you still need to do it," reflected Van Barneveld post-match. "You have to rely on yourself and take your chances and keep on putting him under pressure all the time."

In the next round, Van Barneveld will take on Luke Littler, who was too strong for Ross Smith in his opening match 6-5. At the last World Championship, Van Barneveld went down 4-1 in the fourth round against the teenage English sensation. "I was shocked in the Worlds the story went, that I was one of his idols," Barney recalls. "He played amazing. I was literally watching him at the back of the oche thinking this is like there were magnets in his darts! It really looked like that. I've the best players in the world. I've played Phil Taylor, I've played Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, but this was something else."

That World Championship match, of course, was in England; now Van Barneveld gets to take on Littler in front of a Dutch audience in Amsterdam. "Playing for your home crowd is fantastic, but tomorrow you play a guy who can play like Phil Taylor! He's fantastic - I'm really looking forward to it," he concludes. "I know what I need to do to beat him; to play my A-game and maybe even more than my A-game. If you play well you always get chances, but you have to take them."