"𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠." We caught up with Raymond van Barneveld as he reflects on his decision to enter Q-School as he looks to make his comeback to professional darts.
Van Barneveld confident ahead of comeback at Q-School: "If I play my normal game or A game, I don’t believe they can stop me"
PDCSaturday, 06 February 2021 at 09:00
Raymond van Barneveld will be the leading light when PDC Q-School takes place next week in Niedernhausen as he aims to reclaim his Tour Card after his retirement was cut short.
Van Barneveld announced his intention to come out of retirement in October and his plan revolves around redemption after by his own admission, a disaster farewell year.
“I was hating myself so much because of that last year. The last 10-12 months for me were good to acknowledge what happened," said the five-time World Champion to the PDC.
"I started to look back in my career. Sometimes these were really emotional moments with tears in my eyes. Kissing my grandson in the walk-on in the Premier League in Rotterdam, giving him my necklace. I couldn’t handle it.
"Wow, it meant something to me, to be there for all these fans throughout the world. Everywhere they came up, they all love Barney. I started to believe in that. Wow, do I miss this or what? The warm feeling from the crowd.
"They are singing and always backing me. I think: ‘What did I turn to the dark side?’ This is wrong. I became depressed, a nightmare for players, always down, always talking bad about myself. And I don’t know where that came from.
"I was watching these videos thinking ‘oh my God what happened’. Even when I played so bad they (the fans) were always there. Those moments I cherish. I have the feeling I want to do something back for them.
“I have the feeling that I still need to prove something back to the crowd because the way I walked off was a shame. They didn’t deserve that.
"But the old devil comes in my head and I just say things in front of the camera which I shouldn’t have done. I regret that. It happens.
"Now I feel good, I feel reborn, I have my focus back. I cannot wait to start playing darts again."
In terms of his preparation and his current standard, the so called doyen of Dutch darts has been putting the serious hours again to achieve his ambition and isn't thinking about not being successful next week.
"I cannot wait. I am practising five times a day now, from 9am to 2/3pm. Every day we play darts, work out in the gym, or outside, we do fitness," Van Barneveld continued.
"We take it really seriously. I have never played Q School before. It is straight from the bottom and I don’t know what to expect, how many talented players are there, what the level is, I can only look at my own level.
"I am playing really good darts at the moment, the most important thing is in my head I am back.
"I don’t think about: ‘What else? What if I don’t get a Tour card?’ I am going to get a Tour card. That is it.’ I don’t think about anything else. You need to believe in it, work hard for it. This is what we do right now.
"I know a couple of guys from my home town who got a Tour Card and they will play as well. They are really good local players, they are tough to beat. If I play my normal game or A game, I don’t believe they can stop me.”
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