Barney “Loves” his Oche Pal Wrighty

RAYMOND van Barneveld admits he “loves” his Scottish oche pal Peter Wright and hopes he can end his horror run of poor form. Barney inflicted the third successive 7-1 defeat on Snakebite in the Unibet Premier League at the SSE Hydro on Thursday night. But the five-times world champ, who takes on Michael van Gerwen in Belfast this week, is clearly gutted to see his mate Wright suffering. He revealed: “It was tough to play Peter in Glasgow. I’ve played Gary in Aberdeen a couple of years ago and although I have lots of fans, “When I took on Gary it was like ‘wow’. Gary had to win and I got nowhere near him. But against Peter, same thing. I thought it would be hard in his home country so I knew I had to put him under pressure. “He lost two weeks 7-1 and a 6-0 defeat in a Pro Tour final against Gary, so I think he was a bit lost, searching for the new set-up. “To be honest I’ve never seen Peter play like this. I had a 100 average but he missed chances in the first leg and let me in and after that I dictated the match. “But Peter, do I love him or what? He’s a fantastic player. I really hope he has a good weekend in Leverkusen and gets himself out of this bad form in the Premier League. “Of course 7-1 against Peter is a massive win. I’m happy now because I know I’m going to be in Rotterdam in a fortnight for two matches.” RVB has hit the gym since his own UK Open disaster when he looked exhausted on stage and it’s working. But he is using wise words from his grandmother to spur him on. He added: “Thanks to my management they pick me and keep me focused and happy. “My old grandmother used to tell me ‘Ray if you believe then anything is possible’. “I’m in the gym for at least 90 minutes a day. Every time you are on the treadmill I feel good and that I can do this. “I’m a 50-year-old guy but I feel like I didn’t know I could do this so the stamina is getting better every week and we just started really. “If the old Ray can come back with the killer instinct what can happen then? “Wayne Mardle has been on the phone and is so helpful. It sounds strange that a five-times world champion is listening to Wayne. But this guy knows darts. “Now it’s MVG this week. Mikey has his eyes of the tiger, as I call it. He was 2-0 down in Glasgow and he had those eyes, then he won 7-2. What a massive win. “Michael Smith is doing a great job in the league and playing fantastic but Michael van Gerwen is going to be tough for me to beat him, but not impossible. “If I play great, I can do anything I want.” By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia)