NEW-LOOK Raymond van Barneveld is set to continue wearing glasses as he bids for revenge against Dutch rival Michael van Gerwen in The Unibet Masters on Saturday.
Van Barneveld stunned the darting world when he wore glasses for the first time in competition at the 888.com European Championship last weekend.
After slumping to a second round loss to Mervyn King in the partypoker.com World Grand Prix a fortnight earlier, van Barneveld opted to trial his new glasses in tournament play for the first time in Germany.
The change worked, with van Barneveld overcoming Simon Whitlock, Vincent van der Voort and Peter Wright to reach the semi-finals, where World Champion van Gerwen needed a nine-darter to end his rival's challenge.
Van Barneveld has now vowed to stick with the glasses as he bids to retain his place inside the world's top 16 ahead of his rematch with van Gerwen at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh on Saturday.
He said: "I'm 47 and I never ever thought that I'd play darts wearing glasses, but why not? As long as the trebles and doubles keep going in then I'll stick with them.
"I've had these glasses since December but I didn't wear them. I went to an optician because, with my diabetes, I was getting some blurred vision sometimes, but you don't want to wear them because everyone would start talking about it.
"My manager has returned from being overseas since the World Grand Prix and he said that we had to do something new; to practice every single day, to do more exercise, do a new food programme and try the glasses.
"He pushed me to try the glasses in a practice session, and it's like seeing the dartboard in HD. I was giving the glasses to other players [in Germany] and they said that they could see the board more clearly.
"My vision is much better and I played some good darts during the weekend but I also didn't hit the averages I wanted to.
"Hopefully in the next few months I can get my confidence back but they're definitely helping me.
"I've got to get used to it because I was afraid that my dart may hit the frame of my glasses, but it doesn't and I've got a new vision!"
Van Barneveld led van Gerwen 4-2 in Sunday's semi-final when 25-year-old van Gerwen hit his nine-darter, and also held a 5-3 lead before the World Champion took eight of the final nine legs to book his place in the final, where he defeated Terry Jenkins 11-4.
"I can't say I'm disappointed to lose in the semi-finals because I had Simon Whitlock in the first round, Vincent van der Voort, Peter Wright and then Michael," he added.
"Michael's phenomenal at the moment and hit a nine-darter and a 161 finish - everything goes in for him, and in the second half of our game he was nearly perfect. He's an amazing player."
The pair will clash on Saturday night in the first round of The Unibet Masters, which features the world's top 16 players facing off across two days in Edinburgh.
"I'm really happy to be in the tournament because it was a big fight with me, Kim and Ian White to get into the top 16 and I'm still there," said van Barneveld.
"I'm doing a lot of work away from the board and hopefully I can give him a good game on Saturday.
"It's very important for me and I'll be giving it my all because I want to be the best Dutch player, but Michael is phenomenal at the minute.
"Last year I beat him in Scotland but he's growing and growing and at times he looks like he can't miss.
"He's the world number one and World Champion, but he's not undefeatable. If you keep him under pressure, maybe he will make mistakes - but if you give him opportunities he will rip your head off!"
Tickets for The Unibet Masters are still available and can be purchased from pdc.seetickets.com and by calling 0844 871 8807.
Tickets are also available through www.secc.co.uk and by calling 0844 481 8898.