Eigenlijk wil Raymond van Barneveld het er nog niet over hebben, maar natuurlijk hoopt hij ook van harte tegenover Luke Littler te staan in de vierde ronde: 'Ik heb gruwelijk veel respect voor dat ventje. Hij is 16 jaar, toen speelde ik nog met Playmobil' ad.nl/darts/raymond-…
''When I was 16, I was still playing with Playmobil'': Raymond van Barneveld hopes for clash with 16-year-old prodigy Luke Littler
PDCFriday, 29 December 2023 at 09:00
A clash with 16-year-old Luke Littler beckons for Raymond van Barneveld at the World Darts Championship. But it is not that far yet, because first 'Barney' still has to face Jim Williams in the third round.
Still, the press is already looking ahead to a possible meeting between the five-time world champion and the reigning junior world champion at the PDC. ''I enjoy that boy. Really formidable,'' Van Barneveld spoke full of admiration for Littler. ''He's 16 years old. When I was 16, I was still playing with Playmobil, haha! I have huge respect for that little guy and I can't wait to play against him."
But Van Barneveld, according to himself, is also careful not to look too far ahead. ''I don't underestimate Jim Williams at all and I don't think it's respectful to Jim Williams if we only talk about Luke Littler. Of course I know that I will possibly get Littler, but Jim is a fantastic player so I don't want to look beyond that yet.''
Leading up to the meeting with Williams, Van Barneveld will make full use of the facilities offered by the TOTO Dart Kings, the Dutch darts team of which Van Barneveld is a member.
In a specially equipped room, Van Barneveld can put in his practice hours and it's going pretty well. ''The 140's and 180's are going in during practice,'' stated the 56-year-old Hague native, who is extremely happy with the set of darts that his sponsor Target made for him.
''Faith is not 100 percent, faith is 1,000 percent. I'm standing here doing things.... The word 'losing' hasn't occurred to me in the last few weeks. That's really been a long time. I'm not going to say I'm going to lift that cup, that's just not appropriate, but I feel completely insane. A Van Barneveld in form, where things are right in his head, can go far here. Whether they're called Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith or whatever. That doesn't matter to me then. I play against the board, not against the opponents,'' Van Barneveld said.
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