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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- @UndartedWaters I totally agree with your thoughts! I totally respect Kirk but in this instance I was disappointed with his lack of crowd control. I even turned to my husband and said "Could you imagine this happening if Russ Bray was the referee tonight? At least there would have been a crowd admonishment- Ladies and Gentleman please." I so felt for Mike DeDecker...MamaVenus15-11-2024
- Many fans had a sour taste in their mouth by the end of this match. Mike was cruising to victory, playing beautiful darts, when the whistling started in earnest, particularly on his doubles. You could see in Mike's face that it was really affecting his concentration. The referee should have asked for order, just to show that the whistling is unacceptable, and Luke Littler could also have done his part to quieten down the crowd instead of "taking full advantage.:" I put that down to his age though. He needs some good advice on this from his management team and/or more seasoned players. It's got to be about who's best on the night, not who is being harassed by the crowd. Luke Littler played well to get back into the game and win, but it was a hollow victory. If he goes on to win the tournament, that triumph too will be tainted because of this match.
UndartedWaters15-11-2024 - Agree. Van der voort will be the one taking a break when he loses his tour card. Everyone saying about how bad Wright's last 18 months have been, and in that time he's won several Euro tours and the European Championships.Matilda6215-11-2024
- When Littler has at least five ranking Majors he’s in the discussion, until then, forget it.Mysstree14-11-2024
- This is the difference between other players and Phil Taylor. Phil would be completely motivated even before his walk on and didn't need anything else to do so.richieburnettrocks14-11-2024