Raymond van Barneveld

Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he was ranked world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", he is a five-time World Champion (four-time BDO and one-time PDC). He is also a two-time UK Open champion, and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the Grand Slam and the Premier League. He is also a two-time World Masters winner, and a former World Darts Trophy champion. He is a three-time winner of both the International Darts League, the Dutch Open, and the WDF World Cup singles event.

Van Barneveld has won the PDC World Cup of Darts four times (once partnering Co Stompé and thrice partnering Michael van Gerwen) and the WDF World Cup Pairs once (partnering Vincent van der Voort). He also won the PDC World Pairs alongside Roland Scholten. His victory over Phil Taylor in the 2007 PDC World Championship final, added to his four previous BDO World Championships brought him level with Eric Bristow as a five-time world champion; he is one of only three players in darts history to achieve this.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest darts players of all time, he is one of the most successful darts players in history, and has had a significant effect in raising the popularity of darts in the Netherlands. He is naturally left-handed but throws darts with his right hand.

In November 2018, van Barneveld announced his intention to retire from darts after the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship. On 28 March 2019, following a 7–1 defeat to Michael van Gerwen in his final Premier League match, he announced his retirement with immediate effect, but reversed his decision the following day. He retired again following his first-round exit at the 2020 World Championship. In February 2021, 14 months after retiring, he regained his professional tour card after qualifying at 2021 PDC Qualifying School.