World Matchplay 2025: Raymond van Barneveld ready to show why he is still one of the best against Michael van Gerwen | Darts News

Raymond Van Barneveld admits that he always wants to show that he can compete with the best before the World 2025 match, live on Sky Sports.

Van Barneveld will face Michael Van Gerwen in a first successful first round match in the world match match on Monday July 21 at the Blackpool winter gardens.

The entirely developing confrontation is one of the great shows of the first round in one of the most difficult tournaments in the world, with Van Gerwen a three-time winner while Van Barneveld fell in the final in the hands of Phil Taylor in 2010.

While Van Gerwen is still in the world n ° 3, with “Barney” currently at World No 36, Van Barneveld wants to show that he can always compete with the best of the sport of his day.

Indeed, he wants to make sure that he does not have to face this feeling of loss and to show why he should be considered a winner once again.

“First of all, it’s the crowd that has always made me move forward. It’s fantastic if they sing your song, you know, like Barney Army,” said Van Barneveld I love darts podcast.

“It’s always great to play for a crowd as in Germany or in the United Kingdom or wherever we go today. It’s amazing. This makes you move forward.

“But sometimes you always want to prove that you can always show them what you’re good at. I’m still not 36 in the world, I’m 58 years old. I’m still there, I appreciate.

“It’s not always great, you have to manage the defeats sometimes three, four days a week. No one sees it.

“We play midweks, we play two or three pro tours or qualifications, then we go to the euro tour. So sometimes you have to face three or four losers in a week. I can’t even manage once a week.

“So imagine that you have to face these three, four times a week, with the defeats. And it’s just a week out of 52 of which I speak.

“I am a winner and time changes. Years ago, I was with Phil Taylor, Michael Van Gerwen, Gary Anderson. People have always talked about you. But that no longer happens.”

The world matchplay is always a scene on which the big players want to make their brand and it is no different for Van Barneveld, which focuses on the guarantee that its form to the majors is improving.

“It is not a secret that in the majors, I hurt enough and I lose all the time of the first laps. And you try to find an answer where it goes badly, which I have to adjust, which I have to do,” he added.

“Of course, I’m proud, but proud does not take you anywhere, you want to have results.

“So it’s really good that people talk about you and they always say:” Oh, wow, he’s still there, he always does it and hopes he is proud “.

“But in the end, you want results and with results, you feel happier. Then you want to go more and more.”

Prepare for a show: MVG VS RVB!

For former player Paul Nicholson, the game between Van Barneveld and Van Gerwen will again be a show, especially because the first will increase his game against the second.

“It’s a difficult game for Michael for two reasons,” said Nicholson I love darts.

“First, Raymond will present himself in this match, you know he is because he will want to beat Michael on this scene.

“He did it in 2009 in very different circumstances, of course, but Raymond will raise his game in the same way as Gary Anderson still raises his against Michael as well.

“It will be a show. Michael just needs to cring in the coming days and prepare for dust.

“I will never fight against Michael because he has tenacity and when he is against some people, he always seems to find this little extra spark.

“I have the feeling that he will need it.”

Watch the matchplay World live on Sky Sports from July 19 to 27 or running without contract.