Q School 2021: Barney is back

By Editorial Staff 17/02/2021

RAYMOND van Barneveld will return to the PDC Tour this season just over a year after he decided to initially retire from competitive darts.

This comes after he assured himself of securing his Tour Card on the final day of (Euro) Q School after victory over Willem Mandigers in the L 32 completing the feat.

The 53-year-old five-time World Champion returned to competitive action in Niedernhausen where he eased through to the Final Stage of Q-School.

At the start of today's play, he was in an excellent position after reaching the L16 and semi-final putting to bed doubts that he could still play at the elite level. But on Day 3 Barney slipped up against Stefan Bellmont and watched as the likes of John Michael and Luc Peters gained ground with runs to the latter stages.

A single point would see the legendary Dutchman reach safety and after seeing off Daniel Meyer, he dealt with Benito van de Pas 6-4.

Van Barneveld completed the feat like alluded to from there seeing off Mandigers 6-0 and sits on eight points joining Martin Schindler and Boris Koltsov currently who are also assured to gain a tour card for 2021/22.

Should Van Barneveld though who could still win today's event outright and claim his Tour Card which may make considerable changes to the  Order of Merit and allow another player to claim a place.

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Featured image: Taylor Lanning