Mardle discusses Van Barneveld's fighting spirit: "He has to act that way because otherwise he's just going to get ripped to shreds"

Raymond van Barneveld made a stunning return to darts at the turn of the year winning his Tour Card and then continuing the fairytale with victory at the PDC Super Series.

Wayne Mardle in a column on the Sky Sports website pondered the return of the Dutch darting icon and said that he has to keep up his fighting spirit otherwise his comeback will go wrong.

"He's got a new manager, Ben de Kok, and he has said to him that he needs to apply himself properly otherwise this is not going to work," said Mardle to Sky Sports.

"He's got a fitness regime going on, a practice regime going on and Ben is running Barney as the business that he kind of is and there's more."

"Ben is telling Raymond 'you don't moan at this', 'you don't get down in a match and give up', you don't shake your head or say to everyone that you don't like these events…show no negativity.

In my mind, Barney has to do this. He has to act that way because otherwise he's just going to get ripped to shreds."

"Barney is quite thin-skinned, he's quite sensitive. Sometimes he doesn't come across that way but I know him, he is and he is going to have to show a lot of fighting ability and a lot of resilience," he added.

"The one thing that he has always shown is talent. I'm not surprised he won, I saw it coming, but certainly not this soon, but I think he's re-applying himself.

If you give it two, four, six months, we might see a drop off in that fighting quality but for now, it is there and he's got to make the most of it."

But while that is the case, Mardle said winning a title for Van Barneveld will be huge for his confidence and also the feeling of those facing him.

"I thought that the UK Open came at a good time for him but he got an absolutely awful draw and lost which can happen in that tournament," he added.

He will take a lot from winning this early on the Pro Tour but he really couldn't care less about what he's done.

A bit like Phil [Taylor] and Michael [van Gerwen] what's gone has gone. It all about now.

Winning a tournament for the first time in years is absolutely gigantic for him, but it's also big for the players that he is going to play on a regular basis. Now they will have that 'Barney's here' feeling."