Van Barneveld honest on darting comeback after opening Grand Slam of Darts win: "Last year was a disaster"

Raymond van Barneveld sealed a scrappy win over Dave Chisnall which saw 31 missed darts at doubles between them but for the doyen of Dutch Darts at the tournament he sealed in 2012, his Grand Slam of Darts campaign is underway which compared to last year started with a win.

"I felt brilliant all day long, practicing on the board every single throw was two treble 20's. I don't know maybe it cost a lot of stamina and energy when I got up there. 2-0 down, 2-1, 2-2, important finishing. Dave after that probably didn't play his A game but I'm really happy with the win," he said post match.

"I know for the last year what I can do but it's not worked out for me. On the European Tour, out of 13, I qualified for three. That's really bad for my level. ProTours, sometimes win one game, maybe two or three. Then the Grand Slam qualifier, I thought hold on I have to win four matches, I never did that last year. I managed to win and I was really happy with that."

"I know I can do a lot better than this but sometimes it went in and sometimes it doesn't. Last year I was playing in a tough group as well but starting with a win so I'm happy."

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Speaking more on his comeback, the belief is still there but he admits himself that his darting year at times has been a disaster.

"When I won that ProTour, I thought this is going fine but last year was a disaster, I'm still playing really well, I still keep believing as I know what I can do. Sometimes you need a bit of luck, to qualify for this I got incredible luck. It means something and maybe this afternoon was lucky again."

"I still believe I can do this, I signed a massive contract in Holland with TOTO which means they believe in me. They're not going to sign a player don't believe in. Trust me, nowadays with this standard it's incredible."