struck by nerves and produced a poor routine which woul

Ten years ago, the PDC revealed a new contender named Raymond van Barneveld would join the Premier League Darts ranks. The Dutchman, backed by his Barney Army, has become one of the sports most loved characters and his match on Thursday against Robert Thornton will mark his decade anniversary in the Premier League.Sky Sports have looked back over 10 years of highs and lows... Stamping his authorityEntering the PDC as a four-time BDO world champion, Van Barneveld immediately showed that he meant business by adapting to the Premier League like a duck to water. Ronnie Baxter was his first victim as the 39-year-old Barney thrashed him 8-1 in Blackburn. Which brave challenger would step up to face the new kid on the block next? Raymond Van Barneveld was one of the BDOs top talents when he crossed over You guessed it, Sky Sports very own Wayne Mardle took on Van Barneveld in the Dutchmans second week as a PDC player. Wayne wont mind us reminding you that Barney ran out an 8-4 winner in Sunderland. Roland Scholten (remember him?), Peter Manley and Colin Lloyd were the next names to fall to Van Barneveld before, in the Dutchmans eighth Premier League match, he finally tasted defeat to Phil Taylor. It was the second chapter, after they drew their first match, in a remarkable Premier League rivalry. Mardles crystal ball Will Van Barneveld win this week? Rivalry with TaylorVan Barneveld undoubtedly would have won considerably more had his career not run parallel with Taylors, and the veteran pair have spent the last decade flinging high-pressure arrows to captivate the Premier League audience. Taylor, overall, has enjoyed the lions share of this rivalry. Barney defeated Phil Taylor two weeks ago in the Premier League But that in itself is what makes Barney such an adored part of Premier League history. To this day, he has the feel of an underdog even though he won his most recent meeting with Taylor a fortnight ago. Van Barneveld, however, needed 21 attempts to finally get a Premier League victory over his rival, although they have shared fireworks at the oche.His maiden victory was in the 2014 semi-final and propelled him to his only title but another memorable contest came a year later. Barney, enduring a disappointing run of one win in six, got the better of Taylor in a back-and-forth duel which saw The Power average 115.80 but still emerge as a loser. That 7-4 win ranks as one of the tournaments greatest ever games.The nine-darters The first Premier League nine-darter was scored by Barney against Peter Manley Van Barneveld required just five Premier League matches to hit the competitions first nine-dart finish. He achieved the perfect leg against Manley in Bournemouth 10 years ago, a rare feat that underlined his early promise to become one of the sports elite players. Barney hits his second Premier League nine-darter against Terry Jenkins He needed another four years before he could post another nine-darter in the Premier League. Although he managed it in 2009 at the World Darts Championship, his next perfect leg in the Premier League came a year later against Terry Jenkins in Aberdeen. Surely theres no better way of marking his decade with the PDC than with another nine-dart finish?New talent from the NetherlandsThe orange-clad country that is mad about darts has produced plenty of excellent throwers but the emergence of a young Michael van Gerwen has kept Van Barneveld on his toes.Their first four meetings were at lower-level events but a 16-year-old Van Gerwen won three and lost just once. A stark message had been sent about the balance of power at the oche. They wouldnt meet in the Premier League until 2013, and Van Gerwen won both meetings, meaning the 2014 final had particular significance. Michael van Gerwen (right) has threatened Barneys status as the top Dutch player The younger Dutchman was the reigning champion so it took all of Barneys might to finally record a title-winning victory - it was their third Premier League meeting of that year and they had shared the first two results.More recently, they met at last years play-offs at The O2 and Van Gerwen was back to winning form to eliminate Van Barneveld. The rivalry will continue on March 31 on the final date of this years initial league phase. Whos playing Thursday? Full details of the fixtures The championVan Barneveld finally went the whole way and lifted the Premier League Darts crown in 2014. It was the perfect addition to his jam-packed trophy cabinet although the sole prize perhaps does not do Barneys brilliance justice. When his moment in the spotlight arrived, he grasped it in spectacular fashion with a 10-6 win over the magnificent Van Gerwen in the final.Barney had only entered the 2014 competition as a Sky Sports Wild Card after a below-par run of form. He stormed to the runners-up position in the league phase having beaten Van Gerwen along the way, although his younger compatriot pipped him to the No 1 spot. Two years ago Raymond van Barneveld won the Premier League title The play-off phase presented Van Barneveld with a task as challenging as it could possibly have been. But he toppled Taylor in the last four, his first ever Premier League win against The Power, before going a step further and edging Van Gerwen to claim the championship. He ended a glorious Premier League season with a terrific checkout percentage of 50.22.Watch Premier League Darts from Dublin on Thursday at 7pm on Sky Sports 1 HD. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. Also See: Thursday at the darts Mardles PL predictions Studd praises Jackpot Throwback Thursday Liverpool Jerseys . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Loris-Karius-Liverpool-Jersey/ .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Jordan Henderson Liverpool Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. 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Andrew Robertson Jersey . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Max Whitlock made history by becoming Great Britains first Olympic gymnastics gold medallist on Sunday.The 23-year-old produced a flawless routine on the floor apparatus to score 15.633 and beat two Brazilians - Diego Hypolito and Arthur Mariano - into second and third.It was an extraordinary result from Whitlock, who was also set to compete in his favoured pommel horse event later on Sunday.Whitlocks medal was his second of the Games after he claimed bronze in the mens all-around competition on Wednesday.Whitlock had started the floor apparatus as a strong contender but it was assumed his best chance of breaking his nations gold medal duck would come later.All-around champion Kohei Uchimura was first to go and after stepping out early in his routine he scored a relatively modest 15..dddddddddddd241.After a strong display from home favourite Hypolito, Whitlock nailed his own routine and a succession of likely challengers in the eight-man final proceeded to fall short.Teammate Kristian Thomas scored 15.058 which would eventually place him seventh, while Japans hot favourite Kenzo Shirai made a series of errors and polled only 15.366.American Mikulak, who had exceeded Whitlocks total in the past, also seemed struck by nerves and produced a poor routine which would rank him last.When the final score was announced Whitlock was submerged by teammates and staff, while the Brazilian silver and bronze medallists embraced as the crowd roared. 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