Van Barneveld hopeful of recapturing best form as farewell tour continues: 'I want the old Barney back'

Raymond van Barneveld is remaining upbeat about returning to his best form as his farewell tour continues with one more event to go in Australia and New Zealand.

Van Barneveld who has not shown his best form this year said that he wants to have the old Barney back and that even though he would have played on for longer, he believes his time has come.

"When I play in exhibitions I feel relaxed with the crowd and want to show them what I can do - I want that Barney back," said Van Barneveld to PDC.tv.

"But it's not been happening for three or four years and you need to be honest with yourself.

"When I was the best player in the world I beat Phil [Taylor] in the final and I let everyone know I was the best player in the world.

"Now, I'm realistic and I know I'm not the best player in the world anymore.

"I'm 52-years-old, I would've played on until 55 but my time has come."

Farewell Tour in Australia and New Zealand

On his farewell tour in Down Under, Van Barneveld went on to say that while he appreciates the crowd, he still wants to lift trophies and that with him not winning any singles honours for a while, he said it starts to worry him as a player.

"The crowd is always fantastic, they love me and they call my name everywhere I go. I will never, ever forget that," the Dutchman continued.

"But the thing is you want to win things, you want to lift trophies - that's what I did in the past and that's still what I want to do.

"When you haven't won things for three to four years it gets in your system; you start to worry more, you doubt yourself and you don't want that life anymore.

"I'm a winner, the same as Phil Taylor, the same as Michael van Gerwen, I hate losing and for the last few years I don't win any competitions anymore."

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