Phil Taylor overpowers Raymond van Barneveld

Raymond Van Barneveld’s poor run of form continued as the White & Mackay Premier League rolled into Exeter, losing to rival Phil Taylor on Thursday evening.

With 20 world titles between them over the past year, Barneveld and Taylor have gone down different paths in this year’s tournament.

Taylor had won all three of his previous Premier League matches, whilst the number two-ranked ‘Barney’ had only managed one victory, back in the first week against James Wade.

The Dutchman was in blistering form on the practice boards and took a 2-0 lead as the match got underway.

But the 15-time world champion came back like a powerhouse and won eight legs on the spin and finished in style with a 116 check out to seal the victory 8-2 and keep his 100 percent record intact.

Speaking after the match ‘The Power’, who has now won the last 10 meetings against Barneveld, said: “Raymond seemed to drop his head as soon as I went in front — he’s not the same player he was 12 months ago.”

The man from Stoke went on to say: “It’s not easy performing week in week out but I’ll keep going, and I’ll keep enjoying it.”

Taylor’s opponent next week in Manchester is Mervyn King who kept the pressure on the 15-time world champion by overcoming Terry Jenkins 8-5.

‘The King’ scored six 180s and averaged just under 100 as he claimed his third win and ended Jenkins’ unbeaten run in the process, setting up a first versus second-in-the-table clash.