Raymond van Barneveld was extremely disappointed with himself after losing to Nick Kenny in his opening match on Saturday.
Reflecting on his defeat in an interview with AdvertisementHe said: “I am completely off the map. I am deeply embarrassed by this performance.”
“I’ve had (flu) for three days but I didn’t want to mention it on television. Then people think: ‘He’s got an excuse again.’
“I took vitamins, cough medicine, lozenges. Every morning when I woke up, my throat was as sore as you are hearing now. All the energy is gone.
“You wait for it all year, you deliberately don’t shake hands for several days and do everything possible not to get sick and then you get sick.
“When your nose is stuffy and you can barely breathe, you don’t have the energy to play your game.”
