Raymond van Barneveld has revealed what he always sees Luke Littler doing backstage before darts matches.
Van Barneveld lost 3-0 in sets to Switzerland's Stefan Bellmont in the first round of the 2026 World Darts Championship on Wednesday night.
The five-time world champion only had eight shots at double, and looked visibly emotional as he left the stage following the defeat.
The Dutchman also lost at the first hurdle last year - when seeded players entered in round two - when he suffered a 3-1 defeat to Nick Kenny.
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In fact, the last time Van Barneveld won a match at Alexandra Palace was in the 2024 tournament, when he won against Radek Szaganski and Jim Williams.
In round four, the 2007 champion collided with debutant Littler, losing 4-1 to the eventual finalist despite averaging 99.
Van Barneveld has been playing darts competitively since he was 17 years old in 1984, and won four BDO titles before reigning PDC champion Littler was even born.
In fact, 'The Nuke' was still 20 days away from being born when 'Barney' won his first PDC crown in 2007, defeating Phil Taylor 7-6 in a sudden death leg at Circus Tavern.
Speaking ahead of his defeat to Bellmont, Van Barneveld told The Sun of the major differences he notices between the darts stars of his time and those that play now.
"You cannot compare my age aged 18 to the 18-year-olds now," he began. "Life was different. We didn't have the Internet.
"I wanted to be Eric Bristow, or John Lowe, or Bob Anderson, or Jocky Wilson. Those were my heroes, and in Holland we didn't much English TV at the time. You couldn't watch the darts properly.
"What we saw, we got out of magazines, you saw the results and you were dreaming that, 'I want to be one of them'.
"If I met one of my heroes like Eric Bristow, I was like, 'Oh my god, I'll make a picture of you'. My parents were so proud.
"If you compare it to right now, they don't care anymore, you know. They're playing their PlayStations and their Nintendos and whatever.
"They're on their phones all the time. They're chatting. If I see Luke Littler back in the practice room, he's just on his phone. The guy never practices. I don't know how they do it.
"There's a sort of respect, of course, but it's not like they're scared of you, and it doesn't really matter if it's Luke Littler or someone else [playing against you]."
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship, Luke Littler
Ryan Smart