Klaasen discusses Van Barneveld heading to Q-School: "It's going to be tough because everyone wants to beat Raymond"

Jelle Klaasen was not at the World Championship for the first time in a long time but 'The Cobra' knows the cause of his downturn in form and wants to put it right.

"I was disappointed with not making the World's, I think I played good enough all year to make the World's. I had good averages but only winning counts and sometimes I was losing with a 100 average. It was a little bit of a frustrating year," said Klaasen to Tungsten Tales.

"It wasn't a mental blow because I wasn't playing bad. It wasn't like I missed the World's because I was averaging 80 and losing games. I had match darts against Gerwyn Price, (Jose) De Sousa, almost every player you can think of."

"I know what I can do, I've been top 10 in the world so I know I can play well but I haven't been consistent. A lot of problems with my wrist, I know the reasons for my drop in the rankings. I went from number 48 in the world to 7th in two years time so I know I can do it."

He has a simple goal in mind for the next year and that is play well or risk heading to Q-School.

"I have to climb in the rankings because I don't want to play Q-School next year. I feel good, I feel confident so I know I can do it."

Klaasen mentioning Q-School brought on the point about Raymond van Barneveld and he believes it could be a struggle from a certain regard for the doyen of Dutch darts.

"I think for Raymond it's going to be tough because everyone wants to beat Raymond and even though he maybe practiced a lot last year, he never had real matches so it's going to be different for him to play under that pressure again."

"He's always 2-0 in front because of his name. Every player who plays Q-School for the first time is already 2-0 behind mentally because I have to play Raymond but I think everybody will think I've got a good chance. His confidence is probably not that high."