Darts / Ralph Ellis / 16 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Defeat can be hard to deal with in any sport - and it certainly seemed to hit Raymond van Barneveld hard after Phil Taylor's comeback to beat him in Las Vegas. Maybe that's why we found the Dutchman in such reflective mood when we met him ahead of the World Matchplay championships which start in Blackpool on Sunday...

Hi Raymond, so it was that man Phil Taylor again?

I know. It was a good match though

You got on the microphone after the final and called him the best player in the world. How big is the gap to everybody else now?

Unbelievable. He's getting better and better. Last year he was getting new darts and since that he's played amazing, he's putting the game to another level. In Aberdeen he averaged 116 in the best of 17 legs. I don't know where he's getting it from.

So what can you do to match that?

I have to play my head as much as I play him. I can do it. The final in Vegas was great, but the crucial moments are that he's hitting the doubles more than I am. Say I'm leaving 96, hitting a 20 and a treble 20 and missing double eight, and he was on 109 and he finished on double top, you know what I mean. Every time he does that to everyone, and it's getting in your head, and so you are getting depressed. If you meet him more and more, if you lose to him more and more, you start thinking: 'Am I good enough?' That's why I've come home from Vegas trying to change my mindset and make myself more confident, and I think I will do better in Blackpool. I like the configuration of my new darts thanks to Unicorn and I'm in good shape.

It's well known that when you switched to using lighter darts you just bought cheap ones, but now you've had your own designed by Team Unicorn what effect could that have?

For the last three months I've been busy with them. I said I want this, I want that. I know my grip is really different now, I use my fingers on the point, so if the point is really slippery I start getting in the fives and ones all the time. So we have a grooved point now - although that's another problem because it affects the dartboard. It looks like you are throwing knives in the board! But I'm quite happy, I played really good darts in Vegas and hit another nine-darter on TV.

When we talked to Wayne Mardle he said he had problems using new darts.

I know it can be difficult, and there's a story about Peter Manley that he lost his darts in Schiphol airport, someone nicked them, and he found it tough - so I always said to myself every two months I'd take a new set, I won't let that happen to me. You get too used to one set if you play with them. Ted Hankey got the same, he was playing for years with one set and had no grip at all any more. You use a new set it starts getting in your head, and you can't play with them. I know what Wayne means. Sometimes if you take up a new set it is completely different.

You've had three season in the PDC now. What's that done for you?

I may not have won a major for two years but I'm playing my best darts ever. I got beat 7-1 in the world final with Phil averaging 111 and I'm averaging 102. If I averaged 102 ten years ago at Lakeside people would say 'this guy is unbeatable'. But now it's not enough to win two sets. And it's not only Phil Taylor. I was playing James Wade in the Premier League, I was 4-1 up, and after that he beat me 8-4 with 120 average in the next seven legs. Sometimes maybe the gods are against me!

With such a short time between tournaments do you practice more or rest?

I'm still in the middle of jet lag from Vegas at the moment, I'm very tired every day, so Monday and Tuesday I was with Unicorn for the launch of my new darts, but yesterday, today and tomorrow it's practice again and then on Tuesday I'll leave. I don't play my first round until Wednesday so I can get another two days practice in Holland.

You work rather than take time off then?

It's better for the focus. If you play a lot then you think you are capable of beating everyone because you are getting more and more confidence out of it. Practice more, more and more that make your form good. If you don't you are on stage thinking: 'Can I do this again?' Since Vegas I want to look on the bright side and try to enjoy myself again because I haven't for the last year.

Why's it been so difficult?

I think the travelling, it's really killing me. From the first of January I've made 40 flights already, so 80 flights a year. Every time, you know how it is at airports with delays and everything. It's not easy seeing hotels, airports, taxis all the time.

Isn't that just part of being a professional?

Yeah, and the people around me say: 'Start enjoying yourself and relax'. But I don't have the time to relax because of the tournaments. There's a gap for one week or two and you are in preparation again. You can't go on holiday, say, during the Premier League you can't leave the country because for 14 weeks you have to travel to England every week, so you can't say: 'I'll go to the sunshine, I'll go to the snow to relax.' The first half of every year is all about darts. The UK Open, World Matchplay, Vegas, pro tours, Premier League, World Championship in January, the players finals at the Circus Tavern, so sometimes it's really too much.

That doesn't mean you are thinking of packing it in?

No, of course not. But I said to everybody I'll take the month of August off. In September there's more time, but then November is busy and December you start focusing on the new World Championship and it starts again. It's not always easy, you know. People said to me: 'Ray, why are you complaining, you have a good life?' But I said: 'Yes of course, but every player wants to win tournaments, you know, that's what you want to do, you want to lift trophies, and if you don't win any majors in the last two years .. .' You know ... I'm used to winning. In my whole career I've won so many major tournaments and I'm not doing it any more so it's getting in my head. That's why from Vegas something gets to me, and I said from today, from now on I will live different and start enjoying myself again and see what happens. We've no other options, I'm a darts player and I don't want to do anything else.

That's a relief! Change the subject, your book came out in England in April. How's that gone?

I'm not sure because my manager is doing all the sales! I gave all the players in the Premier League a copy, and they all said: 'Nice book, we loved the pictures when you were young and we know more about you.'

Was it a good experience helping write it?

A very good friend of mine did it with a Dutch journalist. It was first published two years ago and translated into English this year. I wanted to explain to the people in the darts world how the man Raymond van Barneveld is really, and how I got so far.

That's a book, tell us in a sentence!

Well in my whole youth nothing seemed to work out for me. I was a boy growing up with my sister, I didn't have friends in the neighbourhood, I lived with my father, but then he went to work in Algeria and Saudi Arabia. I was all by myself all these years, I didn't have friends, and everything I tried like football or martial arts or whatever, it never seemed to work out for me. I was always shy and at home - and then darts discovered me and it all changed. Maybe that's why if I lose I can't handle it. If I lose I keep saying to myself: 'You see you can't do nothing, you can't play, you are good at nothing,' and that all came from my youth. It's why I have to play against my head now to get better.

Well we'll wish you luck in Blackpool - and we've a free £50 bet for a favourite charity to say thanks for your time...

Okay that's great. I do a lot for the Ronald McDonald foundation in Holland, they are helping kids so much. And I'm going to show some faith in myself too and back myself to win the World Matchplay at the current price of [9.2].