Raymond van Barneveld had a narrow defeat on his return to PDC ProTour action at the PDC Super Series in Bolton after losing first round to Stephen Bunting.
Van Barneveld came from 5-1 down to force a decider after not doing a lot wrong in the early stages but a 125 checkout in the decider sealed it for 'The Bullet'.
To start the tie, a 142 checkout saw Bunting head 2-0 up with a break as he really took the game to the returning Dutch legend.
He missed double 11 for a 124 but returned as Barney was only given a small opportunity in 164 and went 3-0 up.
Van Barneveld went for bull on the 167 but after missing three at double 17, he was nearly made to pay by Bunting who missed a dart at 106.
But Barney was back for the same target again pinning it last dart in hand to go 3-1 down.
A stunning 135 set up from Bunting left him on double 16 which he pinned to go 4-1 up and he followed it up with a 102 checkout to break again and go 5-1 up.
But a break back from Barney allowed him a catalyst as he went 5-3 behind before closing the gap even further as he looked to force a decider.
He hit an 86 checkout to send it all the way at 5-5 albeit with Bunting having the throw.
'The Bullet' though took the game away with a stunning 125 checkout to win edge through.
This means that Van Barneveld will not go any further today but will return for three more tournaments this week in Bolton before the UK Open next weekend.
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