RUBBLE

I’m in bits over World loss. Take me a year to get over it, says Raymond

straight year. Van Barneveld refused to lie down and fought back to make it 4-4 in a thrilling Friday night contest.

But it was Van Gerwen who clinched the deciding set to leave the 50-year-old kicking himself for missing 28 doubles.

Van Barneveld, who lost to MVG for the second successive year, added: “I’d rather lose 5-0 than 5-4. You fight back. But for what? You still go home.

“I tried my best, but it wasn’t enough and now I have to wait another year. It’s painful, but I will go again.”

Dimitri ‘Dream Maker’ Van den Bergh (below) was another casualty in the quarter-final, losing by the same scoreline to Rob Cross.

But the rising Belgian star, 23, vowed to emerge stronger following his exit. He said: “I was 4-1 down, but I kept believing and kept chasing my dream. It wasn’t to be but I can’t grumble too much.

“My ambition for 2018 is I want to keep climbing the rankings.” The 2017 World Youth champion has been tipped for the top after making his mark in the tournament.

Van den Bergh caused a major upset by whitewashing fifth seed Mensur Suljovic en route to the last eight.

He says his performances have come as a surprise after exceeding pre-tournament targets, and he added: “Before the start, my goal was to reach the last eight. I did that so I can be proud.

“I knew I had it in the youth tournaments, but I didn’t know whether I had it on this big stage. Now I’ve shown I can, so I intend to build on this start.”