“She's an amazing player, and she did so well last year" - Raymond van Barneveld sees Beau Greaves being a thorn in Luke Littler's side at Grand Slam of Darts

Luke Littler begins the Grand Slam of Darts on Saturday as defending champion, but Raymond van Barneveld believes there is no guarantee the Englishman will make it through the group stage. The five-time world champion expects Niels Zonneveld to make a strong impression, having been drawn in Group A alongside Littler and Beau Greaves. Van Barneveld feels his compatriot still does not get enough recognition for his performances.

On The Darts Show podcast, Van Barneveld looked ahead to the Grand Slam of Darts in detail. The Dutchman will not be competing in Wolverhampton after losing to Andy Boulton in the qualifier.

“It's so hard to qualify at the moment. The format is really short, best of nine. I played Andy Boulton, who's not a really fast player. He hit all his doubles, so fair play to him,” Van Barneveld said.

“He won my legs, I broke his legs back, but at the end, missing doubles cost me because he went through, and I didn't make it either.”

Although Littler has won the last two editions of the Grand Slam, Van Barneveld sees opportunities for his two group rivals. Zonneveld’s development has particularly caught his eye. “I think everyone can do it. Niels is... We don't speak a lot about Niels, but he's a quality player. Recently, he won the European Tour, so he's playing really well. Last week, he was in the final again on the Pro Tour. He can play."

Van Barneveld also pointed to Zonneveld’s performances at the World Matchplay and their meeting at the Dutch Darts Championship in Den Bosch. “I played him in Den Bosch this year. I was leading 4-3 with a nice 170, so I thought, 'Wow.'”

The five-time world champion has been particularly impressed by Zonneveld’s scoring and finishing in recent weeks. “Then he hit 10, 13 and 15 darts against Michael last week. He hit a 167, Michael was waiting on a double, and then Niels won the last leg and made it to the final."

Van Barneveld is therefore warning the opposition. "So I wouldn't underestimate Niels. He's ready for it. Can he win the group? Well, who can say? But I really want people to watch him. He can play darts."

Van Barneveld also sees Beau Greaves as a dangerous opponent for Littler. The Englishwoman beat the reigning world champion at last year’s World Youth Championship. “I remember Beau beat Luke Littler in the youth semi-final last year as well, so no one likes to play her."

Van Barneveld believes Greaves has now proved she can perform at a high level against the world’s best male players. “She's an amazing player, and she did so well last year. She also gets to meet so many elite A-list players this year, which shows how good she is."

That makes Group A particularly difficult to predict, according to the Dutchman. “It's so hard to pick one in this group. Obviously, you would say Luke Littler, but I'm not so sure.”

The Grand Slam of Darts will feature 48 players for the first time this year. They are divided into 16 groups of three, with only the group winner advancing to the last 16.

Van Barneveld knows from experience how tricky the group stage can be. At a previous edition, he won his first two matches but was eliminated after losing his final group game. "I won two games in my group. Mentally, you're thinking, 'I'm through.' I was playing my third match, got beaten 5-3, and I was out on leg difference."

The Dutchman particularly dislikes having to keep calculating legs under the format. “There is one thing you don't want to do, and that's count the legs for you or count the legs against you. You're always busy with it because, if you don't win, you want to lose 5-4, right? But you're always thinking it over, and that gives you stress. I'm better off with a knockout game. Then you just know you need to win or you're out."

Van Barneveld believes those margins will matter even more under the new format. “If you lose, you're better off losing 5-4. If you're losing 5-0 or 5-1, then you already know you're not going to make it."

He therefore expects the group stage to pose a threat even to the seeded players. Littler, Van Barneveld believes, will need to be alert from the start. “You just need to focus on winning the match. That's the best option.”