Co-favorite Luke Littler from England didn’t show any weakness in round two of the World Darts Championship in London. On the other hand, veteran Ramyond van Barneveld was surprisingly eliminated.
The 17-year-old Littler only initially had problems with his compatriot Ryan Meikle and in the end won comfortably 3-1 in a game with 14 180 shots. Littler could face defending champion Luke Humphries in the semi-finals in London.
On the other hand, the former title holder van Barneveld was already eliminated after his first appearance. The 57-year-old Dutchman nicknamed “Barney” surprisingly lost 3-1 to Welshman Nick Kenny on Saturday evening. Instead of playing against defending champion Humphries from England in London after Christmas, van Barneveld now has to travel home.
Van Barneveld quickly falls behind
The veteran couldn’t find his way into the game against Kenny and quickly found himself trailing 0-2 sets. At the 2019 World Cup against Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas and at the 2020 World Cup against Darin Young from the USA, van Barneveld suffered similarly disappointing defeats at the start of the tournament.
“Barney” became PDC world champion for the first and only time in 2007 after a legendary final against record champion Phil Taylor. He had previously won four world championship titles with the BDO association. Due to the early exit, the Dutchman will fall out of the top 32 in the world rankings.