Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld reveals he has DELAYED his honeymoon until after the World Darts Championship, but admits he does NOT have a 'realistic' chance of winning a sixth title this year

Raymond van Barneveld has revealed he has delayed his honeymoon ahead of the World Darts Championship after getting married for the second time earlier this year.

The 56-year-old wedded his British partner Julia at a ceremony in Larnaca, Cyprus on September 19, after divorcing his first wife Sylvia in 2019 following 25 years of marriage.

But he is yet to go on his honeymoon with his new wife due to his hectic schedule, and the couple are now eyeing a trip away in January so that he can play in the World Championship for the 31st time when it gets underway on Friday.

'It was a fantastic day — 60 people came over to Larnaca from England and Holland for the wedding,' Van Barneveld explained, as quoted by The Sun.

'The disadvantage of darts is I need to travel all of the time. So we haven’t had the time to have a nice honeymoon.

'We are looking to this January after the World Championship — so I’m pretty sure I’ll be in the final then!

'It’s not so easy to go on holiday in January. It’s raining everywhere. You don’t want to sit somewhere and it’s raining for 14 days, right?

'We wanted to go Malaysia. But it’s raining there all day.'

Van Barneveld is a five-time world champion, but has not lifted the trophy since his dramatic victory against Phil Taylor in 2007.

If he can go all the way at Alexandra Palace this year he would be the oldest winner of the tournament ever, but he has played down his chances of upsetting the odds, and has instead set himself a target to get back to consistently challenging the world's best players over the next 12 months.

'It’s not realistic now to say I’m going to lift the trophy. There are better players at the moment,' he conceded.

'When I won the world title in 2007, if somebody had said, "Ray, this is the last time you’ll become world champion", I would have laughed and said, "No. I’m going to win this more than three times more". Which I never did.

'Next year I’ll want to be in the top 16 and in every Major. That’s a nice target to aim for.'