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Raymond van Barneveld is in confident mood ahead of the start of Premier League Darts which gets underway in Dublin this evening.

The Dutchman takes on newcomer Daryl Gurney as the 14th edition of the popular 16 week tournament kicks off.

van Barneveld enters the competition off the back of his major tournament result since 2014, having reached the final of the Unibet Masters last weekend, being narrowly defeated by compatriot Michael van Gerwen.

With the Premier League visiting a number of venues across Europe, including in Rotterdam and, for the first time this year, Berlin, van Barneveld ranks it as one of his favourite competitions.

Speaking on a visit to Yeovil to mark a new sponsorship agreement with Triton Tools UK, van Barneveld said: “It’s fantastic. Every week you fly over the country from Wales to Exeter, Newcastle, Belfast, Dublin, and we are everywhere.

“Rotterdam is, of course, for me in Holland the best Premier League I get because it’s a home game for me, the whole crowd is dressed up in orange and this year for the first time we’re going to do Berlin.

“From what I’ve been told there’s already been 10,000-12,000 tickets already sold, so it’s massive.”

With the unique format of the Premier League meaning that players have 15 weeks to progress to May’s final, van Barneveld – who won the event in 2014 – explains the different pressures compared to a knockout tournament.

He said: “It is different compared to a knockout competition.

“If you knock someone out he’s out of the competition, whereas in the Premier League if you beat Michael van Gerwen twice and he manages to get through in the first four you still have to beat him another time.



“It’s just playing sixteen weeks and each other twice, and then on the final day you’re probably going to end up playing one of the opponents again so nine out of ten times you’ll have to beat your opponent three times.”

Speaking about his run to the final of the Masters, van Barneveld added: “I’m very happy to be in the final.

“I’ve qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts now. I know, leading 4-1 and 8-5 and then suddenly Michael got into another gear and then won five legs on the spin before winning the match 11-9 so I’m gutted to lose in the final of course but I’m happy that I was there.



“Since 2014 I was never in the final any more of any major, so we start building from this, and if you reach the final you’re capable of winning it as well.”