Darts Federation of Australia

Barneveld Aims For Dutch Double

Embassy world champion Raymond van Barneveld says his year will be "complete" if is able to win the World Darts Trophy in Holland.

The Dutchman won his third world title at Frimley Green's Lakeside Country Club last night, defeating Wales' Ritchie Davies 6-3 in the final.

It ended three years of disappointment for van Barneveld, who became a national hero in the Netherlands when he won the title for the first time back in 1998, and then retained it 12 months later.

Hundreds of Dutch fans made the trip to Surrey this year to support van Barneveld and his fellow countrymen, Albertino Essers, Co Stompe and Vincent van der Voort.

But that is nothing compared to the thousands of orange-clad spectators who are expected to attend September's World Darts Trophy in Utrecht.

Nearly 3,000 dart lovers filled the huge Vechtsebanen Complex hoping to see one of the home players win the title last autumn.

However, Australia's Tony David (pictured left) capped a superb year by beating Tony O'Shea - a
5-4 winner over van Barneveld in the semi-finals -
6-0 in the final.

Van Barneveld's manager Ad Schoofs is the man behind the WDT, which has been dubbed
'the Dutch Embassy' because the players and the format are almost identical to the world championship.

And it is a tournament that van Barneveld is determined to win in front of his adoring public.

"My next target is the World Darts Trophy, which is going to be held in Holland for the second time in September," he said.

"It has very good prize money and it is very good for Holland. If I win that one my year is complete."

The Dutchman is also the new world number one, replacing David - who was knocked out by Davies at the quarter-final stage in Frimley Green - at the top of the rankings.

He added: "I won the Swedish Open and now this one, so I will definitely be number one.

"I think it's going to be hard work to knock me off the number-one position this year."

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