Possible Retirement U-Turn For Barney

Raymond van Barneveld (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD could reverse his decision to bring forward his retirement, according to his manager.

The Dutch legend had seen his final Premier League season ended with elimination at Rotterdam Ahoy this week following crushing 7-1 losses to Daryl Gurney and Michael van Gerwen.

Having been given an incredible farewell by 10,000 Dutch fans on each evening in Rotterdam, an emotional Van Barneveld announced his intention to retire immediately from competition.

He had initially planned to end his illustrious career following the 2019/2020 World Championship, and was set to continue competing on the Players Championship and European Tour circuit in the coming weeks.

Following Van Barneveld's initial post-match interviews, where he stated that Rotterdam would be his final competitive appearances, manager Jaco van Bodegom left the door open for a U-turn from the five-time World Champion.

Writing on Twitter, Van Bodegom said: "Raymond had had a very tough 2 nights and in all his emotions he said he was gonne retire right away.

"I just spoke with him and we agreed it is better to take a couple of days to clear the mind and think about the future. I hope everyone understand."

Van Barneveld has qualified for the German Darts Open event in April, and despite dropping to 30th on the PDC Order of Merit had boosted his World Championship qualification hopes with a run to a Players Championship final recently.