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Some of you won't have heard of Raymond van Barneveld ( @Raybar180), or care that he's retiring. But in Jan 2007 he won the greatest sports match of any description I've ever seen against the most dominant champion in any sport I've ever seen
Phil Taylor had lost darts matches, even world finals, before but seldom ever from ahead. Most players were fearful of him, defeated before they started to play. If you got in front you might just cling on. if he led you were done. Against Barney in 2007, Taylor went 3 sets up
Barneveld had won 4 world titles on the BDO side of the great darts divide, but he had always looked a bit fragile. Brilliantly gifted but vulnerable. When he switched to the PDC he confirmed that was the only organisation that really mattered. He was immediately sensational
Taylor knew he had a fight on his hands in the lesser tournaments that year and it was only fitting they should meet in the final. But to start with it looked like a regulation Taylor victory, relentless with his scoring, precision perfection on his doubles
But then Barney fought back and began to play darts of mercurial brilliance, hammering a then record number of 180 maximums, winning sets, shocking Taylor, pushing his nose in front. Taylor led 3-0 and 5-3 but then Barneveld won three straight sets to lead 6-5
In truth he should have put Taylor away but great champions are seldom down for long and the 13 times champion leveled at 6 sets apiece. You feared the old, fragile, Barneveld would regret missing darts for the title. Best of five legs wins it
That last set is etched on my memory like the 2005 Ashes and Liverpool's triumph from 3-0 down in Istanbul, like Niki Lauda snatching the 1984 drivers title by half a point and Malcolm Butler grabbing the superbowl for the Patriots on the goal line as the clock ticked to zero
At 2-2 in the final set, you have to win by two clear legs. On they went, hammering the 180s. There was a temptation to just succumb to the excellence, to say that "darts was the winner" and not care who triumphed
But for me Taylor was an overbearing ogre, a genius without charm. I wanted Barney to win like I've never wanted anything in sport since Jimmy White kept failing to lift the world snooker title or when Steven Gerrard slipped and handed the title away
However well Barney did in that final set, it was like that feeling I had later when Mo Farah was trying to win the 5,000m gold in London. The menace was always at his shoulder and surely would pass as they rounded the final bend
Darts has a wonderful convention when it reaches 5-5 in the final set. They play one leg for the championship of the world, nearest the bull to decide who throws first. It is the pure format that everyone learns in the pub. 501 down for immortality
Taylor throws first and hits the outer bull. Barneveld goes one better and plants his dart in the red bit. Kerplunk. Take that, Phil. Barney gets to go first and opens with a solid ton. 100. Just one treble. Good but not good enough to really open up an advantage
Taylor's first dart fell neatly into the bottom of the treble twenty bed. He pauses and looks away, thinking 'I'm the man. Two more of those.' The second thumps down next to it, the third dart nestles on top. Thump. Thump. Thump. "One-hun-dred-and-eight-eeeeee."
The darts rain down like blows in a boxing match. In the most important leg of their lives, Taylor has conjured a maximum. He leads by 80 points. He's wiped out Barneveld's advantage. This is sudden death and I'll be honest I thought it was over
What happened next is one of the bravest things I've ever seen in sport. Barneveld barely blinked. He stepped up to the board and sunk three beautiful darts in the treble 20s. His 21st 180 of the match. It was like watching Muhammad Ali come off the ropes to pummel George Foreman
It was Taylor who broke. His next score was just 41. You could see in his eyes that he didn't understand. Barney hit a solid 105. Taylor wasn't done: 133. Life. Barney missed one shot at tops but Taylor couldn't finish and it was done.
Taylor said afterwards: "In the last leg, when I kicked in with 180, I thought 'I've got you now, you little bugger' but he hit a 180 back. It was probably the best final leg I've ever played in."
Barney had a lot of other triumphs. People have since hit more maximums. But no one has ever hit them at a more difficult moment than he did. Don't tell me darts isn't a sport. Do watch the denouement here:
Dear, @Raybar180, thanks for the memories. And here's to one last win....
