Raymond van Barneveld completes Houdini act and qualifies for 2025 World Grand Prix at last chance!

Raymond van Barneveld has qualified for the 2025 World Grand Prix at the last minute. The 58-year-old Dutchman faced a tough challenge to make it to the double-in double-out tournament in Leicester this time around, but 'Barney' had all the wind in his sails in Basel.

The Swiss Darts Trophy is the final tournament in the qualifying race for the World Grand Prix, in which the top 16 in the world rankings and the top 16 in the Pro Tour rankings may compete. Van Barneveld began the tournament as the No. 18 ranked player.

At first, Van Barneveld had to hope that Krzysztof Ratajski and William O'Connor would be eliminated in the first round, but both competitors managed to get through their opening match, and Ratajski eventually even made it to the third round. However, a chance came when Dave Chisnall lost his second-round match against Luke Woodhouse on Saturday. 'Chizzy' fell out of the top 16 of the world rankings as a result and could not move back up in his Pro Tour ranking. The case was that all Pro Tour players could move up one spot, leaving Van Barneveld with only O'Connor to pass.

In doing so, the Dutch dart pioneer got help from compatriot Danny Noppert, who was 6-5 too strong for O'Connor. However, Van Barneveld then had to win two more matches himself. On Saturday night, after falling behind 2-4, 'Barney' recorded a hard-fought 6-5 victory over Damon Heta, who missed another matchdart in leg-decider to knock the Dutchman out.

On Sunday afternoon Van Barneveld only needed to win over Ritchie Edhouse to qualify for the World Grand Prix. The five-time world champion did so in convincing fashion, winning 6-0, which also ensured Van Barneveld's qualification for the European Championship.

The World Grand Prix will be played from Oct. 6 to 12 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. As many as seven Dutchmen have qualified for this major event. Besides Van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert, Gian van Veen, Wessel Nijman, Jermaine Wattimena and Dirk van Duijvenbode are also competing.