"I feel sorry for Steve Beaton... I'd like to go out in the World Championship final like Phil Taylor" - Raymond van Barneveld keen to end career with a bang

Aged 57, Raymond van Barneveld has become one of the most senior figures on the Pro Tour. As he nears the beginning of his 32nd World Darts Championship though, 'Barney' has not lost any of that fire and desire that he had in his prime.

Still a capable operator, Van Barneveld is the 32nd seed for the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship and will take on the winner of the duel between Stowe Buntz and Nick Kenny in his opening match. "It's always the special one. Norrmally it was always about me and Phil Taylor, then later Gary Anderson came and Adrian Lewis and Michael van Gerwen you know, so it always it was always about us five. Now, I'm not even on the poster, so it's it's different compared to those years," the Dutch darting icon tells Online Darts. "I need to win my first game and then I'm looking probably to play Luke Humphries, so that that's a tough draw, but I don't mind."

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Despite still being in the top 32 after such a long career, Van Barneveld is confident he still has much more left in the tank. "Hopefully next year, I can improve myself and get maybe a little higher in the top 32 and yeah, try to avoid the top six in the world," he explains. "But I'm 57 you know, it's not as easy for me as it is for the likes of Gian van Veen, Luke Humphries and Luke Littler. When I was 17, I could do it all!"

When does Van Barneveld consider his World Championship performance a success? "It's hard to answer. You know if you win your first round, you meet Luke Humphries," he assesses honestly.

Raymond van Barneveld won the PDC's World Darts Championship in 2007

Having seen some of his fellow long time pros such as Simon Whitlock, Mervyn King and Steve Beaton either retire or drop off the Tour this year though, Van Barneveld is well aware how lucky he is to still be doing the sport he loves at such a high level. "I still love to be involved in the Worlds. I feel sorry for Steve Beaton because he didn't make it," Barney explains. "He's one of the most kindest people I ever met. I can never, ever tell you something bad about Steve and all the players have their own stories, I have them, everyone has them."

In Beaton though, Van Barneveld also sees a warning sign. "I don't want to end like Steve, you know, with no World Championship," he adds. "I'd like to go out at the World Championship with a bang, doing well. The same as Phil, when he went to the final."

"So hopefully, for the next three to five years I'm going to be doing okay and if I still have the feeling, I can do some damage. I will still continue and I believe in it," he concludes. "I'm not on the posters you know, no one is talking about Raymond van Barneveld to lift the trophy. I know that it's realistic to say, but in my head I believe I can and if you believe you can, then you can achieve anything."

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