Jaco van Bodegom, Van Barneveld's manager who also now runs the successful Ultimate Darts spoke recently about his final World Championship and his subsequent first round defeat to the American.

"Normally during the whole year, the player who loses doesn't get an interview with Sky or on TV, only RTL7 wants that and I understand that but they know that the players are so vulnerable and obviously they say a player can also say normal things but Raymond is not one of those players, he wears his heart on his sleeve," he said to the Weekly Dartscast.

"He talks everything without a filter. I've seen him in very dark places, Darin Young's a great guy but he didn't need to lose against him, there was a lot of opportunity because he was playing really well. He played an exhibition with Simon Whitlock a couple of days before and he played extremely well."

"After that interview with Sky, I had to make him do RTL7 as well because you have to go out with your chin up and then on German TV he couldn't even speak. He was just standing there in shock. I got so many texts and calls, people were really worried."

"I think he felt a bit better after his big farewell in Holland in February but before that he felt really bad, really negative. Everything we were hoping for in the last year didn't happen."

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