Dubai Duty Free Darts player guide: Raymond van Barneveld

Nickname Barney

Date of birth April 20 1967

Home town Den Haag, Netherlands

Darts used 25g Unicorn

PDC Order of Merit 11th (at February 23 2015)

Twitter @RayBar180

The reigning Premier League champion, Raymond is also a five-time World Champion and the most successful Dutch player in darting history following a glittering 20-year career at the top level.

A World Champion for the first time in 1998, he added further titles in 1999, 2003 and 2005 before moving onto the PDC circuit, where his 2007 victory over Phil Taylor, in a sudden-death leg, will go down as one of the greatest ever games and included a record 21 maximum 180s from the Dutchman.

He has also won two UK Open titles, the Grand Slam of Darts, Las Vegas Desert Classic, a third International Darts League title and two World Cup of Darts pairs titles in his nine years on the PDC circuit.

And, his Premier League triumph in May 2014 will go down as one of the finest accomplishments in his career, as he put aside the pain of six semi-final defeats in previous years to defeat Phil Taylor - for the first time in the event - and Michael van Gerwen to win the Play-Offs on a memorable night.

Also a two-time World Masters and World Darts Trophy winner and former Masters of Darts champion, van Barneveld has picked up 16 PDC ProTour titles and reached a handful of other major finals to cement his success.

The Dutch great had announced his arrival on the PDC circuit in 2006 with a nine-darter against Peter Manley in Bournemouth, a feat he repeated during the 2010 season when facing Terry Jenkins in Aberdeen.

He has also landed nine-darters twice on the World Championship stage and in the 2010 World Matchplay to take his tally in major televised events to five - second only to his great rival Taylor.

One of the sport's most popular players with the experience and ability to produce match-winning darts at key moments, the Barney Army will be in full swing when their hero takes to the World Series of Darts stage.