Raymond van Barneveld set to take a break from PDC competition

Raymond van Barneveld has revealed he will take a break from professional darts in the coming months in an effort to save his career.

The five-time World Champion has endured a torrid season so far, including 12 first round exits on the ProTour and four consecutive first round defeats on the European Tour.

The 59-year-old has dropped to 38th in the PDC Order of Merit and is currently outside of the provisional qualification places for all major ranking tournaments between now and the end of the year.

Van Barneveld has confirmed he will step away from PDC competition for at least the next three months following this week’s Players Championship double-header in Leicester.

“I still have some exhibitions scheduled. I’ll play those, but otherwise I’m stepping back until September,” Van Barneveld told NU.nl.

“I’ll still pick a few, but I’m going to skip multiple tournaments. Carrying on like this makes no sense whatsoever. Not even if it costs me the World Championship.

“My form isn’t just a bit off, it’s completely gone. It’s mega – really mega – bad.

“Compare me to a footballer. He gets injured, recovers, makes his comeback in the reserves, and slowly returns to the first team. Well, I’m chronically injured, especially mentally, and I can’t recover. Right now it’s incredibly tough for me.”

Van Barneveld has also revealed he is due to relocate to Milton Keynes later this month with his wife Julia in order to be closer to ProTour venues.

He added: “People don’t need to worry that I’m gone for good. My children feared that too. I’ll shuttle between The Hague and England every few weeks. But I won’t rule out settling there if I like it.

“The venue where the floor tournaments in Milton Keynes are held is close by. I’ll get to events much quicker. And Julia is happy about it. By public transport she can be in central London within 25 minutes.

“It’s got five bedrooms and three bathrooms. It’s already fully carpeted and painted, so you can basically move straight in. But you still need to buy a little TV, a sofa, and a small fridge, right.”

The Dutch icon is also under new management via Invictus Darts Management – fronted by Steve Mottershead – former manager of his old rival Phil Taylor.

“Steve said recently: your head belongs on darts’ Mount Rushmore. You’re one of the four faces of the sport,” said Van Barneveld. “That did open my eyes a bit.”

“Because I don’t want to be remembered as the wall of complaints. I want to win tournaments.

“It can flip just like that. Although it seems like opponents always bring their A-game against me.”