Van Barneveld fled to South Africa due to threats: 'Had to call in the police'"

Raymond van Barneveld has won almost everything there is to win in darts, but the World Matchplay in Blackpool is still missing from his impressive list of honors. The now 58-year-old Dutchman often stood on the stage at the Winter Gardens, but never emerged victorious. He did lose the final there in 2010, a year Van Barneveld prefers not to remember too often.

In a candid interview with Sportnieuws.nl, Van Barneveld says that that summer was much tougher for him than anyone on the outside could imagine. "I went to the World Cup in South Africa that summer. I flew on from there to the Matchplay and immediately threw a nine darter on the first night," said the five-time world champion. "I then went to the semifinals and final of the World Cup in South Africa. We had some circumstances privately."

Those circumstances were serious. Van Barneveld faced threats at the time. "We were threatened by several people at that time, that was very intense," he looks back. "Then I went to South Africa to cool off a bit. From there I then flew on to the Matchplay and had a good result there. I wasn't good enough to win the tournament, but finishing second was nice too. After that I never really performed there again."

The threats had a deep impact on his daily life. Van Barneveld even had to call the police. "I had to call in the police because I was just being threatened in my home by various people. That was all in the press at the time as well," he says. During that difficult period, Werner von Moltke, boss of PDC Europe, offered a helping hand.

"Werner came with a very nice offer to go to South Africa, so I did that then," Van Barneveld said. "He arranged tickets for the Netherlands - Uruguay and the final (against Spain, ed.). I'm still very grateful to him for that."

The 2010 World Cup brought a brief escape from reality, but it also left emotional scars. Indeed, Van Barneveld witnessed one of the most painful moments in Dutch sports history: Arjen Robben's missed chance in the World Cup final against Spain. "I went to that final full of good spirit, unfortunate that Arjen Robben didn't shoot that ball in. That's still a trauma," he says of the moment when Robben was face to face with Iker Casillas but failed. "After that I flew back and got a good result."