Raymond van Barneveld is facing perhaps the toughest period of his legendary career, and now his close friend Vincent van der Voort has publicly suggested that a temporary break from the professional circuit could be imminent. Speaking on the podcast Darts Draait Door, Van der Voort revealed that the five-time world champion is seriously considering stepping back after another painful defeat on the Euro Tour in Graz, Austria.
Van Barneveld hit a new sporting low last week at the Austrian Darts Open 2026, losing 6-2 to Alan Soutar with an average of just 77.79 — his worst ever at a Euro Tour event. “You keep thinking it can’t get worse, but he keeps losing all the time,” said Van der Voort. “I messaged him briefly on WhatsApp and you can tell he’s really struggling.” The 59-year-old from The Hague has seen early exits pile up at Players Championships and Euro Tours, often against players he would have beaten comfortably in his prime.
According to Van der Voort, the question now is whether continuing makes any sense. “He’s thinking about taking a step back for a while, because this way it really makes no sense anymore,” Van der Voort said. “I really feel for him. I’ve known him for 35 years.” The former UK Open finalist called the defeat to Soutar “a new low” and expressed disbelief at the averages. “If people told me Raymond was averaging in the 70s, I’d say, ‘No way, that can’t be.’ He really shouldn’t want this for himself.”
Van der Voort drew an inevitable comparison with Phil Taylor, who wound down his career in a relatively controlled way. “I’m glad something like that never happened to Phil Taylor,” he said. Van Barneveld recently chose to work with new management, said to have close ties to Taylor’s former handlers, but Van der Voort remains cautious. “Now we have to see what that does for him. But ultimately, it has to happen on stage.”
Whether Van Barneveld will indeed stop temporarily remains unclear, but the coming weeks could be crucial for the future of one of the Netherlands’ greatest darts players. For now, a sense of sadness and disbelief prevails as fans watch a living legend battle perhaps his toughest opponent yet: himself.