Raymond van Barneveld’s historic World Championship final win over Phil Taylor was almost TEN years ago
Dutchman reflects on his memorable victories which was one of the best performances of his life
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD believes in Miracles at Christmas because he achieved one almost a decade ago.
Barney’s epic 2007 world championship final victory over Phil Taylor has gone down as the greatest match in darts history.
It was the sport’s equivalent of Liverpool’s 2005 Miracle of Istanbul in which an underdog emerged triumphant in spite of insurmountable odds.
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Dutchman Barneveld, then the No.32 seed, produced the performance of his life at the Circus Tavern to come from 3-0 down in the final to win 7-6 against Taylor, the greatest player of all time.
He said: “It is unbelievable that 10 years have passed since that final.
“If you saw that man 10 years ago weighing 135kg and playing the best darts of his life, it’s strange actually.
“Though I went 3-0 down in sets, and 9-1 in legs, I kept saying to myself: ‘Ray, just relax, take your time and you’ll get your chances.’
“My former manager came to the next stage during the match and shouted: ‘Ray, come on, believe in yourself.’
“I don’t know what happened after that but it all came good in the end.
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“I regularly look at the picture now in my office of me winning the trophy and Phil Taylor standing behind. It was one of the best games I played in my life.
“Holland went mad. When I got back to the Amsterdam Schiphol airport, maybe 100-200 photographers, journalists and fans were there.
“I couldn’t walk anywhere. It was like the Beatles had landed at Schiphol airport. Too many people were waiting for my arrival.”
Barneveld was obviously wearing a pair of lucky clogs throughout that tournament before winning his fifth world title.
It was his first full season on the PDC circuit having switched off from the BDO code.
Interestingly, had Belgian thrower Erik Clarys not injured himself falling off a ladder that summer, it is unlikely Barneveld would have scrapped through as the final seed in the draw.
And he also survived several match darts against world no.1 Colin Lloyd in a second-round upset.
Barneveld said: “When I joined the PDC, I had four aims: to become world No.1, to win the world championship, to beat Phil Taylor on TV for the first time, and achieve a nine-dart finish. Within 14 months later I had achieved all those things.
“A month ago, me and Phil went to Germany for a rehearsal of that 2007 final. He beat me 6-5 in sets and nearly 4,000 fans in Germany bought a ticket for the exhibition night. It show how much people remember it.”
Barneveld faces Robbie “Kong” Green tonight in the first round of the William Hill PDC World Darts Championships.
He stormed through to the semi-finals 12 months ago before losing to finalist Adrian Lewis.
The third-round victory over tournament Michael van Gerwen has gone down as a classic Barney display.
The 49-year-old grandfather is desperate to win this evening to ensure he is not eating cold turkey come Sunday lunchtime.
He said: “You don’t want to lose the first round. If you do, you have a nightmare Christmas.
“You want to spend Christmas with your wife, family and grandchildren as a happy man and in full focus for the next match.
“You don’t want to be sitting over Christmas and New Year, feeling all depressed.
“The adrenaline is pumping in my body at the moment. I am feeling so good.
"I wanted to start this match days ago.”