Nick Kenny has opened up on the extraordinary moment Raymond van Barneveld approached him for a word just before their crucial World Darts Championship clash in 2025 – a match Kenny describes as the most important win of his career. The Welshman, fighting to keep his Tour Card, had just beaten Stowe Buntz 3-0 in sets to set up a second-round meeting with the five-time world champion. But in the build-up, Kenny was fired up by an interview Van Barneveld had given, in which he appeared to overlook both Kenny and Buntz.
Speaking on Tops and Tales, Kenny recalled: "So I always get the venue at the Ally Pally because you do it four hours before, maybe even a bit more. And I can remember when I did my interview after Buntz, I'd seen an interview that Barney had done with Phill Barrs. And he basically disregarded me and Stowe Buntz and was looking at playing Humphries in round three." After the win, Kenny mentioned it in the heat of the moment, and then came the unexpected visit: "I'm sat there with a group of friends, Barney comes in, taps me on the shoulder, can I have a word? And I was like, yeah, no worries. I'd never said that. I said, I've seen the clip, you've said that. Like I said, what do you want me to say? It was just like, just disregarded your game because he was the seed then when he was 96. And it didn't end in a spat or anything. I just said, oh, okay, all the best today. And that was it."
Kenny admitted he could see Van Barneveld was rattled during the match, especially when the Dutchman started tinkering with his equipment. "I don't think on one set up, was it 2-0 up? Maybe 2-0 up. And I could see he rattled. He's swapping his flights. He's swapping his stems. That's what I can remember about it." Van Barneveld pulled a set back, and Kenny feared the momentum could swing, but he held his nerve. The decisive moment came when Kenny left 61 after 12 darts, and despite missing one at 16, he eventually took it out on double four. "And my heart at that point was like, oh my God, you can't waste this opportunity," he said, describing the hostile crowd: "The crowd are on my back. They're going Barney Army. They're not whistling, but they're booing and jeering. And woo, all that. And like, I've never been in that experience before."
Kenny's celebration was one of pure relief, which he now calls "cringy and epic". But even after the win, his Tour Card was not immediately secure. He initially finished 65th in the rankings and depended on Steve Beaton's retirement. "And the thing is, it wasn't guaranteed. Steve Beaton was hearsay to be retiring. So if he hadn't retired, I finished 65th. If he didn't pack it in and I didn't go up to 64th, I would have been off. But then there was another one who, I think Rob Owen saved his skin as well." In the end, everything fell Kenny's way, and he earned around £58,000 that year compared to just £13,000 in his first year, covering his target by March of the following season. But now he's back to square one: "So I ended up winning about the same amount of money getting to Ally Pally, having a bit of bad luck with a draw, I suppose, with Justin, the way he played and the way he went on, but fair play to him. And now I'm back to square one. Now I've got to try and defend my card again, like everyone else."
