''That makes no sense at all'': Raymond van Barneveld laments catalogue of errors from walk-on to changing darts

Only one match lasted for Raymond van Barneveld's participation in the 2025 World Darts Championship in London. The 57-year-old Hague native played a very disappointing match against Nick Kenny on Saturday night, losing 3-1 in sets to the Welshman.

Things already went wrong at the turnout. Instead of the usual Eye of the Tiger, a technical error caused a different walk-on song to be played, and halfway through the five-time world champion's walk on, the music even dropped out altogether.

Once on stage, Van Barneveld was anything but happy. Shaking his head, he saw that he had the greatest difficulty in finding the treble, while the doubles did not run like clockwork either.

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Despite the huge disappointment, Van Barneveld still appeared in front of Viaplay's camera for an interview. There, the five-time world champion summed up his game as a 'mess'.

"From the very beginning. I didn't feel at home for a moment tonight. Constantly pulling and pushing those darts. And ask me why, I have no explanation for that. Or that there are five men hanging on my shoulders, I really have no idea," Van Barneveld lamented in his reaction. "There hasn't been a turn that I thought now we're effing good. Because he didn't play that great either, except for the first set."

During the match, Van Barneveld switched equipment several times in an attempt to find the right feel with different darts. "Yeah and that makes no sense at all, because with that set-up I started with I just did really good things," Van Barneveld said of that. "That doesn't say anything here. This is a very big venue. I felt really really really good. Then you go into that match and that just doesn't make any sense at all."