''I stood with my mouth wide open'' - Van Barneveld perplexed by level of Kuivenhoven after chaotic preparation

Raymond van Barneveld played a special match at the Czech Darts Open last weekend. After the 57-year-old Hague native won 6-0 over Daryl Gurney in the first round, he suddenly faced a new opponent in the second round on Saturday.

Van Barneveld was originally scheduled to face Gerwyn Price. However, 'The Iceman' cancelled at the last minute due to a pinched nerve in his neck. As he sat at breakfast on Saturday morning, his wife Julia suddenly received a phone call from the Netherlands. "A very crazy story," he begins in the Sportnieuws.nl podcast Darts Draait Door, in which fellow darter Vincent van der Voort co-hosts.

"I was suddenly called by Alex from In De Kleine Eik (a dart pub in The Hague, ed. Raymond, which hotel are you in?" he asked. Maik (Kuivenhoven) got a call that he may play in Prague tonight. Gerwyn Price is sick and won't come.''

That's when Van Barneveld realized he would have a different opponent at the Czech Darts Open. "And so I didn't even know that through the organization," said a surprised Van Barneveld. However, Kuivenhoven did not have an ideal preparation by any means. "He wouldn't land until 5:50 p.m., while our match was already supposed to be at eight. At 7:30 he still wasn't there."

Meanwhile, the five-time world champion had begun his preparation that evening, not knowing if Kuivenhoven would be there in time for the match. "I was told by Michael van Gerwen that his suitcase with darts and clothes had also been left behind in Frankfurt. At 7:40 p.m. he came in. In white sneakers, jeans and a PDC polo shirt."

As soon as Kuivenhoven entered the practice room, he had to bullpen right away with Van Barneveld to determine who could start the match. "I lost the bullpen too," Van Barneveld laughed. "He also threw with borrowed darts. Afterwards they turned out to be my darts as well. He was then just throwing fantastic and I stood with my mouth wide open. What the hell is happening to me!"

According to Van Barneveld and Van der Voort, Kuivenhoven should never have played a match under these conditions in the past. "In the past the match would not have gone on, especially with those clothes he was wearing," Barney stated. "It didn't look like that either," Van der Voort concurred.