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Raymond van Barneveld returns to darts a day after retiring

Five-time world champion reversed his decision after ‘a rollercoaster of emotions’

An emotional Raymond Van Barneveld bowed out of the Premier League with a 7-1 defeat to Michael Van Gerwen in front of his adoring home fans in Holland. Photo: John Walton/PA Wire

Fri Mar 29 2019 - 12:51

Five-time world champion Raymond Van Barneveld has reversed his decision to retire following “a rollercoaster of emotions.”

After defeat to fellow Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen on Thursday night in the Premier League, he said he did not want further “pain” and would finish immediately.

However, in a statement on Friday released through the Professional Darts Corporation, the 51-year-old said: “For months my life has been a rollercoaster of emotions.

“I felt ashamed on stage in front of my family, my friends and the Barney Army. I felt I let everyone down and that pain was very hard to deal with.

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“In the heat of the moment I only wanted to never feel that again, but I realise that I should not speak out like that when I feel such raw emotion.

“I want to end my career at Alexandra Palace during one final World Championship.”

Van Barneveld has dropped down to 30th place on the PDC Order of Merit, but is set to participate in the forthcoming Players Championship events as well as the German Darts Open in April.

“I hope people understand the difficult times my family and I have been going through and I need to get my head together,” he added.

“I will take a couple of days off for this and then try to compete as well as I can in the floor tournaments out of the spotlight in the coming weeks.”