Raymond van Barneveld Faces Uphill Battle to Qualify
Raymond van Barneveld's chances of qualifying for the 2027 World Darts Championship are in doubt, with only a limited number of ranking tournaments left.
The pressure is mounting on the five-time world champion, who currently sits outside the qualifying spots.
Vincent van der Voort discussed the worrying position of Van Barneveld, along with Dimitri Van den Bergh and Scott Williams, in the Darts Draait Door podcast.
Van der Voort believes it will be an uphill battle for Van Barneveld to secure a World Championship ticket.
The former pro cited the lack of consistent results from Van Barneveld, who has shown he can still beat top players on his day.
Van Barneveld's struggles are more structural in nature, according to Van der Voort, who sees little indication of a major turnaround in the short term.
The Dutchman is taking a breather at the moment, which doesn't make the situation any easier.
Van der Voort stated, "I don't know exactly how far behind he is, but it's not like there's anything to hold on to that suggests it's going to get much better soon."
Dimitri Van den Bergh appears to have an even bigger problem, with a significant deficit in the ProTour Order of Merit, sitting 56th at the time of writing.
Van der Voort believes the issue lies less with Van den Bergh's talent and more with a lack of confidence and consistency.
The Belgian still has the quality to win big matches, but has struggled to show that form consistently on the floor tournaments.
Van der Voort said, "The chance that Dimitri is going to make it, to be honest, isn't very big."
The bulk of ranking points in the coming months will be earned at Players Championships and qualifiers, where Van Barneveld has rarely produced his best level in recent seasons.
Damian Vlottes pointed to the deficit Van den Bergh has built up, but Van Barneveld's situation is also precarious.
As things stand, it's unlikely that Raymond van Barneveld will be at the 2027 World Darts Championship in December.
The five-time world champion needs a significant improvement in his results to secure a qualifying spot.