Somerset's top stories direct to your inbox Join for free Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Darts legend Raymond van Barneveld has said that he feels the decision by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) to end the tradition of having walk-on girls at major events is wrong.

The PDC stopped the practice of having the models escorting players to the oche would be stopped with immediate effect before last weekend’s Unibet Masters in Milton Keynes.

Speaking at an event in Yeovil to mark a new sponsorship agreement with Triton Tools UK, van Barneveld, who has supported a 15,000 strong petition to reinstate walk-on girls, said that the practice was good for the game.

He said: “Yeah, why not?

“It was always there and I can’t believe because of some high class people that we can’t do it anymore. Why?

“Leave those girls alone. If there was any trouble, they would have come out and said so.

“The girls are good, they’re good for the darts players, they’re always interesting and I feel sorry for them.”

van Barneveld enjoyed a strong run at the Masters, reaching the final where he lost a pulsating final 11-9 to fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen.

It was the first major final that “Barney” has reached since 2014, a timely return to form as he heads into the start of the Premier League, which he gets underway on Thursday in Belfast by taking on rookie Daryl Gurney.

He added: “I was very happy to be in the final. I’ve qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts now.

“I’m gutted to lose in the final of course but I’m happy that I was in the final.

“If you’re in the final you want to win it but it’s a good thing to be there of course. Since 2014 I was never in the final any more of any major, so we start building from this.”

The recent headlines in darts have revolved around the retirement of Phil Taylor, who stepped away from the sport after this year’s World Championships following a 31 year career.

van Barneveld may feel that Taylor’s departure leaves a void in the game, but he says he would not be surprised to see the sport’s most decorated player make a return.

He also believes that in newly crowned Rob Cross, the sport has a young player who could emulate Taylor’s achievements.

van Barneveld said: “He will be missed. Apart from his capabilities and his tournament wins, but another Phil Taylor is already there in Rob Cross, you know.

“He took the world by storm and he was so good in the world championship, so he’s an amazing player and we’re going to hear much more from him this season because I think he’s a phenomenal player.

“I’m not really sure if Phil’s never going to play a TV tournament anymore but I can’t guarantee but maybe in the future he’s going to miss it and maybe he comes back and does one or two every year.

“Apart from that we’re going to miss him as a player and a person because of his capabilities, and he is always on TV and he always had good matches and won different trophies.

“Mike is doing this now and hopefully from what we saw last weekend I’m going to show some more.”