Raymond van Barneveld admits he’s not sure what comes next after his early Ally Pally exit. The Dutchman fell at the first hurdle as he was downed in straight sets by Swiss star Stefan Bellmont.

Having won the title on debut back in 2007,Van Barneveld has now failed to reach the quarter-finals of the competition in each of his last six outings. The 58-year-old has since spoken out after his exit and claims that he is clueless over what is next in his career after a difficult calendar year.

A statement read: "I thought I had a nice draw. That's what everybody was telling me before the game. Everybody was wrong. He played a great match. He deserved to win this match.

"I played well in the first leg, the second leg wasn't bad as well. He started with a 140 followed with two 100s. I had three 100s and a 60.

"From that moment he basically hit every double. I got a chance on tops with three darts in the second leg of the second set. I missed them and it was 2-0 for him instead of 1-1.

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"Also in the last set, I was nowhere near my best and he hit everything. He missed the bull for a 170 but whenever it was needed, he hit the double. My compliments, he just played well.

"Whenever I was practising at my office I played really well. It's so frustrating that in practice I hit a 140 and a 180 every time.

"The only problem is with practicing you play your own rhythm. That's different from a match. I noticed he was really slow. I knew that but that made me go out of my own rhythm and missed the doubles.

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"I'm out. It has been a very poor year for me. I need to regroup myself. It's very difficult to answer what's next. On the practice board I'm a five-time World Champion, maybe even ten-time.

"But during the matches it just is not going my way. And why not? I don't know. I can't answer that, really. Of course, this hurts. It's the second time in a row this happens to me. I wonder by myself how to go on.

"I wonder what to do because suffering every week from all the defeats is not what I want. That's obvious. He doesn't even have a Tour Card and to only win two legs, that says it all. I have got homework to do and have to find out what to do next. But, this one hurts, that's obvious."

Van Barneveld will now fall down the PDC Order of Merit following his elimination. In the meantime, Bellmont will turn his attention to a second-round clash with Damon Heta.