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RAYMOND van Barneveld says that playing Luke Littler is like taking on Phil Taylor!
The Dutch legend is ready to face the 17-year-old in the World Series Finals in Amsterdam.
But Barney, 57, admits that he was stunned by Littler’s performance to dump him out of the World Championship last December.
He said: “I was shocked in the Worlds the story went, that I was one of his idols.
“He played amazing. I was literally watching him at the back of the oche thinking this is like there were magnets in his darts!
“It really looked like that. I’ve played the best players in the world.
“I’ve played Phil Taylor, I’ve played Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, but this was something else.”
That World Championship match, of course, was at the Ally Pally.
Now Van Barneveld gets to take on Littler in front of a Dutch audience in Amsterdam.
He added: “Playing for your home crowd is fantastic.
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“But you play a guy who can play like Phil Taylor!
“He’s fantastic. I’m really looking forward to it.
“I know what I need to do to beat him; to play my A-game and maybe even more than my A-game.
“If you play well you always get chances, but you have to take them.”