Shortly after the World Cup ended: Darts veteran infected with Corona - "No symptoms during the game"

Created: 12/25/2021, 3:53 PM

By: Antonio José Riether

Raymond van Barneveld in his early tournament against Rob Cross the day before Christmas Eve.

© John Patrick Fletcher / imago-images

Former darts world champion Raymond van Barneveld was eliminated from the current World Cup tournament in round two - and was infected with the corona virus shortly afterwards.

London - The Darts World Cup * has been running in London's Alexandra Palace since mid-December, and a big name was eliminated after just two rounds.

Former world champion Raymond van Barneveld had to leave the tournament early, but will stay in London a little longer.

The reason for this, however, is not a pleasant one, "Barney" contracted the corona virus immediately after his last game against Rob Cross from England.

Darts World Cup: Raymond van Barneveld infected with Corona shortly after being eliminated in the second round

The Dutchman shared the news about his positive results via the short message service Twitter. "I had no symptoms during the game, but afterwards I noticed that I was short of breath and had a fever," said the 54-year-old. The symptoms are still present, the PDC world champion from 2007 is currently suffering from a fever and severe fatigue. Due to his infection, van Barneveld would have to be in quarantine for the next few days.

In his last match, the clash with Rob Cross, van Barneveld had to admit defeat 1: 3.

In the first set of the game he was the second player at the World Cup to check the highest possible finish with 170 points.

But van Barneveld was ultimately powerless against the 2018 world champion.

So the athlete from The Hague only won one victory this year, the 3-0 win in the first round against Filipino Lourence Ilagan.

Cross continues in round three against Northern Irishman Daryl Gurney.

Darts World Cup: van Barnefeld paused before the season - optimistic message after another early World Cup

About a year ago van Barneveld returned to the tour, in December 2019 the four-time BDO world champion had resigned.

He finished his last two world championships before retiring in the preliminary round.

Before the current World Cup, the Dutch darts icon was still 68th in the world rankings, now he could fall back even further.

Despite the early elimination, he expressed himself optimistically: "I am still motivated and will come back stronger in the coming year," he wrote after his early tournament exit.

The “Barney” fans can therefore also count on the crowd's favorite next December.