It's no breeze for Barney

12:51am Friday 6th April 2007

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RAYMOND Van Barneveld was left to reflect that life isn't such a breeze when you're world champion after his 7-7 draw with old foe Peter Manley last night.

The Dutchman, who became PDC world champion earlier this year, saw his hopes of qualifying for the play-offs of the Holsten Premier League hampered by a draft in the Windsor Hall of the BIC that was affecting his normal laser-guided accuracy.

Van Barneveld, who hit a famous nine-dart leg in last year's clash with Manley at the BIC, told the Daily Echo: "I was playing really well in practice backstage and then up on stage, my darts were going off course. I think there was something wrong with the air conditioning.

"It is so difficult when you prepare as we do and then you go up on stage and it's totally different conditions. It was pretty hard to deal with."

Despite the unexpected gusts, Barney moved into a 4-2 interval lead and a vastly improved performance after the break - that saw him lead 7-4 - should have been enough to see out the victory.

But three crucial missed darts at double eight in the final leg allowed Manley to complete an unlikely fightback and the pantomime villain duly took out 58 for a battling draw.

Van Barneveld, who revealed he is looking to shed a fifth of his bodyweight to get down from 20 stone to 16 stone, said: "I'm not in the best form of my life in the Premier League at the moment.

"I just cannot find the focus or concentration every week so I felt I need to live differently now. I'm on a diet and I feel like I'm getting fitter but I also get tired more easily.

"But I've bought myself a treadmill and I'm working out for an hour every day, so I know that may affect my game while my body is changing."

Meanwhile, Van Barneveld insists that Bournemouth remains a special place for him after his heroics at the BIC last year and another warm reception from the fans.

He said: "Bournemouth will have a special place in my heart for the rest of my life after the nine-darter last year.

"I still watch it back on video every week and Bournemouth and the fans here have been very special to me."