Raymond van Barneveld reveals DM from player who was accused of stealing his walkout song at World Darts Championship

Raymond van Barneveld has screenshotted a DM message from Romeo Grbavac after the Croatian used a familiar walkout song ahead of his PDC World Darts Championship debut.

Grbavac, who secured his place at the World Championship last month with victory over Tomislav Rosandic, took to the Alexandra Palace stage for the first time on Thursday.

However, it was afternoon to forget for the 30-year-old as his opponent Callan Rydz stormed to a 3-0 victory in just over 15 minutes. In fact, Rydz recorded an average of 107 – the highest ever in the first round of the competition.

And things didn't get much better for Grbavac, who presumably logged on to X, formerly Twitter, to see a post from five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld.

After hearing Grbavac use Eye of the Tiger as his walkout tune – a song synonymous with the Dutchman – Barney wrote "Erm...." alongside a number of emojis, including a confused face, a tiger and an eye.

Luke Littler, who will face Ryan Meikle on Saturday, even got involved by posting a video of Grbavac's entrance on his Instagram story alongside the caption: "Barney has changed?"

Now, the Croatian has suggested he is not responsible for picking Eye of the Tiger as his walk-on song.

In a message that has since been posted by Van Barneveld on his social media channels, Grbavac wrote: "Hello Barney, this song wasn't my choice and I don't know why they played it."

Van Barneveld responded by saying: "Ok all is forgiven pal."

Image credit: X/@Raybar180

Speaking ahead of his second-round match against Nick Kenny on Saturday, Van Barneveld admitted that most people don't even recognise him anymore.

"Really, I go through it seriously," he told De Telegraaf. "Then they recognise something and ask, 'Are you by any chance a colleague?' Then I ask if they also happen to be a professional dart player.

"I also have to explain to quite a few people if I still play darts, yes or no. Since it's no longer broadcast on the open net, a lot of people don't see you anymore."

He added: "Last week I just threw 180 four times in a row. That's not normal, right? I haven't done that all my life. Then I think: hell, Ray, it's still there, with your 57 years."