Raymond van Barneveld determined to 'go pounding' with new material at upcoming World Darts Championships
PDCSunday, 17 December 2023 at 09:30
On Friday, begin his 31st participation in the World Darts Championship. It is the last day of the first period of the World Darts Championship, after which the tournament is traditionally interrupted for three days for the Christmas break.
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The PDC's made schedule does not suit the 56-year-old Dutchman badly. Van Barneveld recently acquired a new set-up on his darts, giving 'Barney' some extra time to train with them.
The first results of the training sessions are promising. ''We really have the perfect set-up now,'' Van Barneveld said in conversation with De Telegraaf. ''I'm throwing really great with it, full of conviction, and I'm strong in my head.''
The five-time world champion's new set-up is a new product from his equipment sponsor Target. With the so-called K-flex, the flight and shaft are permanently attached to each other. ''I spent a year begging for them to make that for me. That then came out in a narrow flight shape, but I always throw with size 6 (a wider flight, ed.).''
''I got a test set from Japan now and it looks formidable,'' Van Barneveld stated. ''Last Saturday I won a tournament in Magdeburg, with former world champions like Steve Beaton, Glen Durrant, Mark Webster, Martin Adams and Gerwyn Price was also there. The Friday before in Cologne I lost to Michael van Gerwen 4-2 in front of 11,000 fans, but this feels really good. We're going to hit the ground running."
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Van Barneveld has an exemption in the first round of the World Darts Championship. The winner of the duel between Radek Szaganski and Marko Kantele will be his opponent in the second round. After that, a duel with two-time world champion Peter Wright possibly awaits.
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''That could also have been Luke Humphries,'' Van Barneveld realized. ''But Wright also just became European champion two months ago.... Good performances at the World Darts Championship, keep me in that top-32. And preferably make the step to that top-16, because then you are also assured of participation in all major tournaments. That's the goal.''
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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