65 Facts About Raymond Van Barneveld

1.

Raymond van Barneveld was born on 20 April 1967 and is a Dutch professional darts player.

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2.

Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champion, a two-time UK Open Champion and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Premier League.

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3.

Raymond Van Barneveld is a twice-winner of the World Masters and the World Darts Trophy, and a three-time winner of the International Darts League and the WDF World Cup Singles event.

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4.

Van Barneveld won the PDC World Cup of Darts four times and the WDF World Cup Pairs once, all whilst representing the Netherlands.

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5.

Raymond Van Barneveld is one of the most successful Dutch darts players to date, and has had a significant effect in raising the popularity of darts in the Netherlands.

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6.

Raymond Van Barneveld is naturally left-handed but throws darts with his right hand.

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7.

In November 2018, Van Barneveld announced his intention to retire from darts after the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship.

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8.

Raymond Van Barneveld retired again following his first-round exit from the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship.

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9.

Van Barneveld began participating in competitive events around the Netherlands since 1984 when he was 17 years old.

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10.

Raymond Van Barneveld started to make some progress on the British Darts Organisation circuit in the early 1990s, reaching the quarter-finals of the Belgian Open in September 1990 and the German Open in March 1991.

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11.

Raymond Van Barneveld failed to qualify for the World Championship in 1992, but returned to Lakeside in 1993, which would be the last time that a unified World Championship would be staged.

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12.

Van Barneveld continued to make progress in the BDO Open events in 1994 after the split.

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13.

Raymond Van Barneveld continued his good run of form into the 1995 World Championship by beating Les Wallace, Dave Askew, Colin Monk and Martin Adams to reach his first World Final.

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14.

Raymond Van Barneveld successfully defended the trophy the year later by the same winning margin as the previous year, this time against Ronnie Baxter.

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15.

Van Barneveld lost in the quarter-finals in 2001 and 2002 before returning to the final in 2003.

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16.

Raymond Van Barneveld never dropped a set in the first three rounds as he beat Gary Anderson, Mike Veitch and Vincent van der Voort.

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17.

Van Barneveld reached his sixth final in 2006, and was aiming to equal Bristow's record of five BDO world titles.

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18.

Raymond Van Barneveld has won the prestigious Winmau World Masters title twice: once in 2001 when he recorded a win in the final over Jarkko Komula of Finland and again in 2005 when he beat Goran Klemme in the final.

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19.

Raymond Van Barneveld cited his reasons as wanting a greater challenge, and regularly playing against players like Phil Taylor.

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20.

Van Barneveld beat Taylor again just weeks later in the semi-finals of the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic.

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21.

In September 2006, soon after losing to 17-year-old Michael van Gerwen in the first round of the 2006 World Darts Trophy, Van Barneveld acknowledged that he needed to work on his finishing throws, and he made alterations to his game.

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22.

Raymond Van Barneveld changed his darts and began using the "stacking" technique used by Taylor.

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23.

Taylor and Van Barneveld met again in the 2007 PDC World Championship final, in a match which Taylor later described as the best final he had been involved in.

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24.

In doing this, Van Barneveld became the first person to successfully defend the UK Open crown.

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25.

Raymond Van Barneveld managed to win his first two matches comfortably, although he nearly had to retire during his second-round match due to breathing problems.

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26.

Raymond Van Barneveld was defeated by Kevin Painter in the 3rd round by 4 sets to 2.

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27.

Raymond Van Barneveld was knocked out of the early stages of the US Open, the Las Vegas Desert Classic by Alan Tabern and in the semi-finals of the UK Open by Gary Mawson, after having defeated rival Taylor by 10 legs to 9 a round earlier.

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28.

Raymond Van Barneveld was defeated in the quarter finals of the World Matchplay by Wayne Mardle, despite leading 12 legs to 7 at one stage.

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29.

However, Van Barneveld did regain some form in the World Grand Prix reaching the final of the tournament, before being defeated by Taylor by 6 sets to 2.

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30.

Van Barneveld threw another televised nine dart finish in the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship in his quarter-final match against fellow Dutchman Klaasen on 2 January 2009.

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31.

Van Barneveld hit two maximum 180s before nailing treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to complete his nine-darter in the second leg of the sixth set.

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32.

Van Barneveld threw his fourth nine dart finish in the Blue Square UK Open West Midlands Regional on 29 March 2009 in the third round against Kirk Shepherd.

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33.

Raymond Van Barneveld declined entries for the Championship of Darts and the South African Masters.

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34.

Raymond Van Barneveld attributed the diabetes towards his form in major tournaments.

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35.

Van Barneveld reached the World Grand Prix final for the second successive year, but again lost to Taylor, this time by 6 sets to 3.

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36.

Raymond Van Barneveld failed to qualify for the 2010 UK Open, having only entered one of the eight qualifying events.

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37.

Van Barneveld finished the league phase in second place behind Taylor, but then lost in the semi final to Anderson, which was the fifth time in six years that Van Barneveld had reached the Premier League semi finals without getting into the final.

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38.

Raymond Van Barneveld contacted his sponsors with a S O S which meant they had to contact the closest supplier to deliver a new set for him.

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39.

Van Barneveld was the victim of one of the biggest upsets in PDC World Championship history in 2012.

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40.

Raymond Van Barneveld teamed up with Vincent van der Voort for the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts to try to defend the title Van Barneveld won with Co Stompe in 2010.

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41.

Van Barneveld was a Sky Sports pick for the Premier League.

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42.

Raymond Van Barneveld hit a nine-dart finish in his third round match against Michael Barnard.

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43.

In November 2012, Van Barneveld won his first major tournament in over five years at the non-ranking Grand Slam of Darts.

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44.

Raymond Van Barneveld's win was later named the best PDC Televised Performance of the Year.

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45.

Taylor reacted angrily when Van Barneveld pulled him back after their handshake, with both men being escorted away separately by security staff.

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46.

Van Barneveld stated later that he was only trying to congratulate Taylor in a sportsmanlike way and give him a hug.

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47.

Van Barneveld was never out of the top four in the Premier League during all 14 weeks of the league phase.

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48.

Raymond Van Barneveld lost in the second round of the European Championship and World Matchplay to Thornton and Justin Pipe respectively.

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49.

Raymond Van Barneveld had a poor run of form in the UK Open Qualifiers to be placed 66th on the Order of Merit meaning he entered the tournament in the first-round stage.

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50.

Raymond Van Barneveld produced some of his most consistent darts in years during the Premier League as he remained unbeaten for 12 matches during the season to finish second in the table.

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51.

Raymond Van Barneveld's finishing proved to be the difference between him and the rest of the nine players as throughout the 18 matches his checkout percentage was 50.

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52.

King duly won the match, with Van Barneveld issuing an apology to the PDC and the television viewers for giving up.

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53.

Van Barneveld survived relegation by leg difference, but then won six of his last seven matches to qualify for the play-offs.

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54.

Van Barneveld edged past Stephen Bunting in a final set decider at the World Championship for a second year in a row and then played Michael van Gerwen, who he had lost to 10 times out of 13 throughout 2015.

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55.

Van Barneveld finished the year seventh in the Premier League table to fail to qualify for the Play-offs for the first time since 2012.

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56.

Raymond Van Barneveld took the first set without reply in his quest to reach his first final since 2009.

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57.

Raymond Van Barneveld reached his first premier event final for three years at the 2018 Masters, being defeated by Van Gerwen.

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58.

Van Barneveld announced on 19 November that he would retire after the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship.

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59.

Van Barneveld was eliminated in the second round of the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship by Darius Labanauskas.

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60.

Raymond Van Barneveld was invited to the 2019 Premier League Darts, being eliminated after the first phase, having been bottom of the table after nine matches.

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61.

On 23 September 2020, Van Barneveld announced his intention to compete in the PDC Q-School for 2021, reversing his decision to retire.

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62.

In 2017, Van Barneveld featured in the song '180 linkerbaan' by Dutch rapper Donnie.

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63.

In October 2009, during the World Grand Prix tournament in Ireland, Van Barneveld revealed that he had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that summer, and that it can affect his vision if his blood sugar level is too high.

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64.

Raymond Van Barneveld is a supporter of ADO Den Haag.

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65.

In January 2009, in the quarter-finals of the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship, Van Barneveld became the first player in professional darts to hit a nine darter at the PDC World Darts Championship.

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