After the World Matchplay in the middle of last month, the PDC entered a quiet period. Outside of the World Series of Darts tournaments 'down under' and a few Players Championship events, there is little on the calendar during the summer months.
Raymond van Barneveld took advantage of that lull in the darts world to take some holiday time.
The 57-year-old Dutchman headed to Turkey recently with his wife and apparently found inspiration for some hilarious posts on social media. Van Barneveld began by posting a photo with wig on. "Back from my holiday in Turkey," he wrote. Turkey is known for many people traveling there to undergo hair transplants.
On social media, he received several comments from people who thought it was a great photo. 'Legend,' one person wrote. Another person had a new name in mind: 'Ramona van Barneveld'. Still someone was already looking forward to the next TV tournament at which Van Barneveld will be in action: 'I'm already looking forward to his walk-on'.
A few days later, Van Barneveld has been back at it and posted another. Wearing his wig, he took a photoshopped Rocky Balboa photo. "Afternoon all. Spot of training," he wrote. 'Barney' again received a lot of comments after his new post. "Working my way through all these shampoo sponsor emails."
Van Barneveld will return to action on August 21 and 22 during Players Championships 19 and 20, which will be held in Milton Keynes. He hopes to recover after a disappointing World Matchplay, where he went down in the first round against Jonny Clayton. Van Barneveld is currently 28th in the world rankings and is well on his way to qualify for the most important tournaments in the fall. Only for the Grand Slam of Darts is he currently not guaranteed a starting spot.