Raymond van Barneveld managed to reach the second round of the
Baltic Sea Darts Open with a big win on Friday night. He defeated Daniel Larsson 6-1 thanks to an average of 99 and finishing success of 40 percent.
The five-time world champion threw a 12-darter and two 14-darters, among others. ''I was hoping that I averaged a little bit more,'' Van Barneveld responded on stage afterwards.
"Last year I got beat by James Wade here, so it's my first win in Kiel," continues van Barneveld. "I've known Daniel for a long time and I was focusing on him. He missed one or two darts and let me in. Very happy with the win.''
On Saturday night, an all Dutch tie with Danny Noppert awaits in the second round. ''I like Danny. Danny is an amazing player. What I see in Danny, in nine out of ten times he always reaches the last 16 or the quarter-finals. So hopefully I'm the one out of ten to beat him. Hopefully we got a great game,'' Van Barneveld said.